Home and contents coverage is a policy that protects you from monetary loss of any of your belongings inside the house, and replacement or repairs to the house itself, if something drastic should happen. Depending upon your specific policy, anything that mother nature throws at you would be covered. And of course, anything that a thief, or vandal, destroys or steals would be replaced or repaired.
Home and contents insurance can get expensive, depending on the policy that you have, and the amounts of the coverage needed. There are a few things that you can do to reduce the amounts, but before you do that something important has to be done. You need to make a list of all your contents that are worth any type of money. Itemize them out on a spreadsheet (or piece of paper) along with the value of it. If you have some pieces that are priceless you will need to add on a separate policy for that, but that is a discussion better left for another day.
- Correct amounts-This aspect of home insurance can go either way for you. That is one reason you need the itemized list. The total amount of the items that you need covered will be the amount that you need covered on the policy. No more. No less. As for your house itself, if you live in a mansion, you will not want the bottom-line amount of coverage.
- Excess-You can play around with the excess amounts that you have set up. The higher you have it set, the lower your premiums will be on your house and contents insurance. Be extremely careful when messing around with this strategy because it can get you trouble. You need to figure out exactly how much you can afford to pay out of your own pocket before you start adjusting the excess amount. If you put it as high as you can to reduce your premium, you may end up not being able to cover the amount that you must pay out.
- Yearly-This may be difficult for some of you to be able to do. Your finances will dictate your ability to follow this tip. It is always better to pay the premium amount in one lump sum that pays for the entire year. It not only locks in the price for the year, but it will give you a small discount.
- Upgrades-You can make upgrades to your house that will decrease your premiums. Installing a top line security system will help. Landscaping around the house trimmed out to prevent being a fire hazard. Electrical upgrades that make your house safer. Adding new materials on the outside and roof can also have influence on the premium because it makes the house a better risk.
- Shop around-The biggest step that you need to take is to compare numerous insurance You need to not only check the prices of the policies, but the coverage as well. Some of them will have exclusions and limits. Remember that the cheapest is not always the best. You do not want to short yourself on benefits just because you can save a couple of bucks.
As with most insurance plans we all look for ways to decrease the premiums. It is a nuisance that many of you may think is something that can be forgotten about. Insurance is one of those things that you hate to pay for when you are not needing it. But if something should happen and you needed it, but did not have it, your perspective on it would change dramatically.
