How To Pay Less On Home And Contents Insurance
How To Pay Less On Home And Contents Insurance
It's that time of year again, when renewal notices start piling up and you find yourself with the daunting task of trying to figure out how to pay less on your home and contents insurance. It's a really common problem for people on a budget. With all the new ways to get internet, phone and cable services, it seems like we are living in a mobile society. We can't wait to ditch our landline phones and get some cell phones or just ditched cable completely to save money. But at the same time, we still want all those conveniences we used to have with traditional landline phones and cable TV.
So all of a sudden, our home and contents insurance has shot up by hundreds of dollars or even by the thousands. It seems like no matter how hard we try to keep a handle on our budget, this is one item that always seems to get in the way.
So how do we fix it? And if you're in this situation, what can you do right now?
And forget for a moment about how we got here. Just look at where we are now: $1200 a year more than we used to pay or maybe even closer to $2000 a year more than what we used to pay for our home and contents insurance.
If we admit it to ourselves, it's probably not going to go down anytime soon.
But there is hope and help. And you don't have to go without knowing how to pay less on your home and contents insurance.
There are things you can do right away that will actually start saving you money on your home and contents insurance automatically starting month-to-month. Don't go into next year with the huge increase you had this year or you'll be at this again in a year. You have to start right now.
If you're feeling emotionally overwhelmed by the size of the increase, break it down into a manageable amount. That way you can focus on one change at a time until your budget is back on track.
Another thing you can do is look for a cheaper home and contents insurance policy that will give you a lower premium with all the benefits you currently have or even more benefits. This may take some shopping around but if you shop smart, go to the internet and check out options available in your area from different providers. You'll be surprised how much variation there is between companies so comparison shop and don't just automatically follow your agent's advice.
You can also do something to reduce the amount of money you have to pay on your home and contents insurance which is often a major factor in whether or not you can keep it.
First, take out home and contents insurance for your personal possessions only when you absolutely need it. For example, if there's a tornado watch or severe thunderstorm warning in your area when you're away on vacation, don't be afraid to cancel your home and contents policy until after the storm passes. This will help reduce the premium for those policies during that time.
Second, start saving as much money as possible into an emergency fund that will help cover things that happen in case of a natural disaster.
Third, ask your insurance company if you can get a policy that will allow you to have the premium paid into an investment account. This will enable your money to earn interest while collecting dividends and should help make up the difference in what you're paying for home and contents insurance right away. And it's really a good thing for you to be doing anyway because of all the fees that mutual funds charge these days, it's better than having them in a bank savings or chequing account because they will at least be earning something on top of their 1% or less interest rate.
And if you're a credit union member, ask your credit union if they have any home and contents insurance policies. If they do, ask them how much less they are than the major providers because that's something that many people don't consider when shopping for home and contents insurance.
Check with your agent or broker about what type of discounts you may be eligible for. Some people can get a discount on their home and contents insurance just by bundling their auto insurance with it or even sometimes by paying the premiums through direct deposit or automatic withdrawal from their bank account. This is something that you should know about because it will help you save money on your home and contents insurance each month no matter what type of plan you choose.
Last but not least, you must check your home and contents insurance policy to see if there is a claim history. Claims will actually affect the price of your home and contents insurance for up to 7 years. So you should avoid making a claim if possible because it will really increase your premiums later on. That's why it's so important to make sure you don't have a claim on your home and contents insurance because no matter how little the amount it doesn't matter; it will still affect your premiums.
But if you do have a claim, shop around like we talked about earlier, especially if you're looking for better coverage for the same or lower premium or even better coverage for less money.
So there you have it. No longer are you going to be facing large increases on your home and contents insurance. If you're already facing them, then you know how to shop around and ask questions until you find the best value for your hard-earned money.
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Conclusion
I hope this article has given you some useful tips on how to cut down the amount of money you have to pay for your home and contents insurance and covered all the important points like what to consider when shopping around, what to look for when buying a home and contents insurance policy as well as easiest ways to save money on your home and contents insurance each month in today's rapidly changing economy.
If you want more information about these topics or if you're still concerned about how much your home and contents insurance will be, then visit http://www.discountinsurancecanada.com today.