Tips to Save on Your Home Insurance

Canadians will pay more for their home insurance this year regardless of whether they have made a claim or not.  There are several reasons why your premiums will go up; but the main one is because your local home insurance provider is part of the worldwide market.  This means disasters across Canada and around the world affect your policy rates.

Tips to Keep your Premiums Down:

Don’t over insure your house.  When you purchased your home, you paid for the house and the lot.  You should only insure the cost to rebuild your home, not what you paid for it.

Increase your deductible.  The standard deductable on most home policies is $500, the easiest way to save money is by increasing it to $1000 or $2500.

Install a Burglar alarm.  All insurance providers will give you a discount if you have an alarm system installed, activated and monitored.

Shop around for better rates.  Do some comparison shopping on-line, just because you have pooled your auto and home insurance together doesn’t mean you are getting the best deal.

Look for an interest-free monthly payment plan.  Almost all providers offer monthly payment plans, but many charge outrageous interest rates for the privilege, find one that doesn’t.

Personalize your policy.  Many insurance policies include $6000 coverage for fur coats and $5000 for gold bullion, if you don’t own either why pay for them?  Find a provider that will let you personalize your policy and only cover what you need.

Forget small claims.  You have the right to claim for losses no matter what the size, but most policies will offer up to a 20% discount to be ‘claims free’.  Do the math; it might not be worth it.

Install a backwater valve.  These devices prevent water backing up from the city sewer system and can be purchased and installed for around $1000.  Many cities offer a rebate and insurance providers may offer discounts once installed.

Hope you find these tips and ideas helpful, feel free to pass them along to your friends.

Have a great weekend,

Tracey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source:  Advisor.ca, original article posted 02-05-14 by staff.

Note: All insurance and segregated fund transactions are provided through Hub Financial.  Any information in the enclosed note is provided by Tracey Marshall who is a registered insurance agent under the Financial Services Commission of Ontario.  Hub Financial is not affiliated or related to Security Financial Services.