Monday, March 2, 2009

Looking for Low Cost Homeowners Insurance? - Don't Make These Mistakes

By: Ryan Richardson

Your House is an enormous investment and an investment that large needs to be protected. That's what homeowners insurance will do for you. Homeowners insurance is very important but you can avoid overpaying and obtain low cost homeowners insurance if you avoid making these common mistakes. 

Mistake #1. Insuring your home for the amount of its purchase price. 

Many people think "I paid $275,000 for my home therefore I need $275,000 worth of homeowners insurance coverage". This simply is not the case. A sizable portion of the purchase price of a home goes to the land that the home is built on. If your house were to be completely destroyed you would have to pay to rebuild your home but you would not have to buy the land again, therefore you should determine what it would cost to rebuild your home and whatever figure you come up with is the amount of insurance coverage you should have. 

Mistake #2. Having a very low deductible. 

The deductible is the amount you have to pay before the insurance company pays out any benefits. A lot of people choose to have a low deductible so that if they need to make an insurance claim they will not have to come up with very much money out of pocket. The problem with this is that having a very low deductible means also having higher monthly premium payments. If you do need to make a claim of a relatively low dollar amount you may not have to pay much money out of pocket but after making such a claim your premiums will generally go up anyway. So instead of having a $250 deductible just in case your fence blows down in a wind storm, it may be better to have a $500 or even a $1000 deductible with much smaller monthly premium payments. If your fence blows down in the wind, pay to replace it yourself and keep your premiums low in case you ever need your insurance to cover more substantial damage. 

Mistake #3. Choosing the first homeowners insurance company you come across. 

By simply going with the first insurance company in the phone book or the one that your real estate agent recommends you don't really know what you're missing. To save money in your quest for low cost homeowners insurance you should do some comparison shopping. You can go online and quickly get multiple quotes from a number of different insurance providers allowing you to pick the one that offers the best coverage at the most affordable price.

About the Author

To find the best homeowners insurance rates, get an online homeowners insurance quote to quickly and easily find the best price.

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