Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Affordable Iowa Home Owner's Insurance -- 6 Proven Steps To Bigger Savings

You don't have to do difficult things in most cases in order to lower your Iowa home owner's insurance rates. You may be alarmed to find out that all that's making it difficult for you to get far lower Iowa homeowner's insurance rates are minor things you can quickly deal with. Following are a good number of tips that will bring you closer to the goal...

1. You'll pay less if you have motion-sensitive lighting for your home's exterior. Burglars will avoid any place where their movement will be easily spotted. And motion-sensitive lighting does this precisely. Your Iowa homeowners' insurance rate will be reduced you'd have lowered your home's risk of burglary through this kind of lighting.

2. Ensure you don't leave ladders hanging just anywhere. They could actually help a burglar. Do NOT as well leave pieces of tools lying around. They as well make breaking and entry much easier for burglars. All such things will ultimately increase premium if you do not keep them in the properly.

3. Do not insure your house along with the land it is standing on as this will cost you more but very unnecessary. People do this without knowing. They just insure their house for its complete value without subtracting the land's cost.

If you did such ignorantly, you need to review your home insurance coverage and go through it again with your agent. Subtract the land's value and use only the cost of your home and its contents.

This means you will pay far less on home insurance. No matter what you do and who you get in contact with, remember that the only things you insure are things that can be lost or destroyed and your land is not one of such.

4. Making your premium payments once every year will save you much when compared to monthly payments. A major reason for this is the cost an insurance company incurs for posting you 12 bills instead of just one annually.

The cost shoots up if you add the fact that they pay transaction fees for processing each check you send them monthly. 12 checks are 12 transactions which attract 12 separate transaction charges. These and other costs so incurred by your insurer are ultimately paid by you, the insured..

Therefore, you'll get lower rates if you decide to pay your premiums annually. What you'll save could be as much as 8.5% of your total monthly payments over the course of just one year.

5. Set up your account to pay your premiums automatically and you'll get more affordable premiums for that. If you don't know how to do this, ask your bank or agent. In addition to saving you in premiums you will also save yourself a lot of time and hassles.

6. You will save much if you really have between 25-30 minutes. Visit, receive and compare home insurance quotes from various insurance quotes sites. The lowest offer should be your choice easily. Nevertheless, you have to look beyond just the cheapest price to the best price/value. The lowest priced may not be the best price/value for you as an individual.

Here are my favorite quotes sites (highly recommended)...

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Monday, December 8, 2008

Iowa Homeowner's Insurance -- For All Who Want More Affordable Rates...

Would you like to lower your Iowa home owner insurance costs? If so, your search stops here as this write-up will teach you steps to take and lead you to all the resources you need to get the cheapest rates. I'll share time-tested ways for anyone to attract the cheapest rate for their profile or coverage needs. And this will be without reducing the quality of coverage you get. Here they are...

1. You will save if you buy all your policies from the same insurer. Insurers give discounts (multi-policy discounts) for policyholders who purchase multiple policies from them. But you might save more with different insurance providers than you'll get from a multi-policy discount.

2. You can make your house almost disaster proof thereby lowering your risk and, consequently, your Iowa house insurance rates. You can make this happen by taking all the necessary precautions against fire and burglary as well as the following depending on where you live...

a. Storm shutters will afford your home better protection from wind damage.

b. You'll also be better off in windy areas with a heavier roofing material.

c. If you live in a state where earthquakes are likely, you will get a discount if your home is retrofitted against earthquakes.

d. Cutting off dry branches on trees on your property will reduce the likelihood of a branch falling off and causing injury and/or damage.

e. It is also recommended that you ensure no trees come to your structure. A tree can help burglars and their branches can also fall off and destroy part of your house. It could also lower the durability of your roof depending on the material it is made of.

Ask your Iowa home owner's insurance agent for other things you should do if you want to lower your home's risk.

It's also important to check if the discount you will get justifies the cost of implementing the recommendations. Implementing these tips will help you reduce your Iowa homeowner's insurance rates.

3. It is more expensive and needless to insure the land on which your house is standing. Folks do this ignorantly. They just insure their house for its complete value without subtracting the cost of the land.

If you made this mistake quickly call your agent and re-evaluate your home insurance policy. Lower your coverage to the worth of your house and its contents minus the land's value.

This means you will pay far less on home insurance. No matter what you do and who you meet, don't forget that the only things you insure are things that can be stolen or damaged and your land is not one of such.

4. The level to which you reinforce your roof could make you eligible for a discount. This is particularly true if you live in the East where high winds are a major threat. You can get advice from your agent on how you can reinforce your roof and receive discounts as a result. Fitting heavier shingles is a possible way to do it.

5. Government home insurance policies might really be costing you more than what you can now get with private insurers. It used to be very tough to get insurers if you live in some high crime areas or places that were affected by certain natural disasters. Some folks in those regions had just one choice: Government homeowner's insurance sold by a government agency. However, at present there are many private insurance companies who also offer coverage for such areas.

It's true that government homeowner's insurance may still be your best option depending on where you live. Nevertheless, this is not always true as you may get better coverage at a cheaper price from some private insurance companies.

6. You can bring down your Iowa home owner's insurance rates by obtaining and evaluating quotes from at least five reputable quotes sites.

Here are my favorite quotes sites (highly recommended)...

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Sunday, December 7, 2008

Affordable Iowa Home Owner Insurance Quotes -- Tips To Help You Get Discounts

Some recommendations bringing down your Iowa homeowner insurance rate do reduce the quality of coverage you get and so are NOT wise. However, you can get cheaper Iowa homeowners' insurance rates for better coverage if you know the things that matter and and apply them rightly. Let's look deeper into this...

1. Install special fire and security systems that alert fire stations, police stations or other monitoring center. Apart from the peace of mind you will have in knowing your home is under constant surveillance by competent professionals, you will enjoy cheaper Iowa home owner insurance rates. Although the savings this will get you will vary from one insurer to another, you can expect to bring down your Iowa home owner's insurance premium by as high as 25%.

2. Your home's risk perception is strongly affected by your claims records. Avoid filing claims for every little thing as that will make your home a bigger risk. You will get a more expensive rate as a consequence of this bigger risk impression.

You are, therefore, encouraged to NOT file claims for very little things that won't really cost you a lot if you handle them personally. It will do your Iowa home owner insurance rates a world of good.

3. Motion-sensitive lighting lowers your home's risk of burglary and, therefore, makes it easier for you to get lower Iowa house insurance premiums. Burglars naturally don't like to operate in any environment they could be easily noticed or caught. The risk of burglary is a strong factor in checking a home's risk to an insurance company and, consequently, your premium.

4. A higher Deductible will result in more affordable quotes.

Remember that your deductible is the amount you'll have to provide first before the insurer pays out anything. $250 appears to be the smallest deductible available in Iowa home owner's insurance. You'll easily realize savings of up to twelve percent on your rates if you increase your deductible from this base amount ($250) to $500. Raising it further to $1000 should get 24 percent discount. What you'll get as savings for each deductible amount will differ depending on the insurer..

5. Do your best to place fire extinguishers at strategic points in your home. For instance, your kitchen must have a good and working fire extinguisher. You must also make sure it is adequate for your kind and size of kitchen.

Ensure they are within easy reach and ensure they are in good working condition. This may seem little but you'll pay more if you don't keep them in your home.

6. You can get savings of hundreds of dollars on your home insurance policy by requesting for insurance quotes from insurance quotes sites. The best way is to visit a minimum of five quotes sites and making sure that you give the same (correct) information about yourself.

I recommend that you use a minimum of five quotes sites since that will ensure you do not miss out better quotes not presented by the other sites. This provides you a broader basis for doing more extensive comparisons thus increasing your chances of realizing more savings.

Here are my favorite quotes sites (highly recommended)...

Get Affordable Home Insurance Quotes


Home Insurance Quotes In Minutes