Home Owner Insurance - Getting the Discounts You Deserve

by Jared Balis

Let a local agent in your area help you find the best home owner insurance policy at the most affordable price!

Most home owner insurance companies give you discounts for multiple reasons. Here are the most common:

• Stay with your home insurance company for a number of years. If you've found a good company that has kept their rates reasonable and provides good service, it may be worth sticking with them for a number of years to get a preferred customer discount.
• Having deadbolt locks.
• Having a centrally connected burglar alarm.
• Having a centrally connected smoke alarm.
• Insure your auto(s) with the same company.
• Keeping a fire extinguisher in your kitchen.

These are just some of the ways you can lower your home owner insurance premium. Call your agent or insurance company and ask them if you qualify for all the discounts your deserve. Or, talk to a local agent who can help make sure you are getting all of the discounts you qualify for by completing this short form.

Home Owner Insurance – Choosing the Right Deductible

by Jared Balis

Get multiple home owner insurance quotes from a local agent by requesting a free quote!

It’s important to make sure you choose the right deductible when purchasing a home owner insurance policy. Determine if you intend to use your home owner insurance for smaller more frequent claims, or strictly for catastrophic events.

Many people use their home insurance to make claims when their vehicle is broken into. If you intend to use your home owner insurance for this purpose it may be a good idea to choose a lower deductible. However the more claims you make, the more you will pay in premiums in the long run.

Many people choose to use their home owner insurance for catastrophic reasons only. This would include events such as a fire, a burglary, or damage from a windstorm. It’s a smart idea to opt for a higher deductible if you only intend to use your home owner insurance for events like these.

Choosing a higher deductible can save you money on your annual home owner insurance premiums, in turn optimizing your price to coverage ratio.

Consider choosing a deductible of $1000, $2500, or $5000 or higher to keep quality home owner coverage and drastically lower your premium.

Saving Money on Homeowner's Insurance by Having a Home Security System

By Chris Robertson

Do you own your own home? If you do, do you have (and use) a home security system? If you own your own home, more often than not, your insurance company will offer discounts on your homeowner's policy if you have a home security system.

Unfortunately, during the summer months crime is on the rise, and as with most other large cities within the United States, Texas is suffering, too. Austin, Dallas, and Houston home security system installations are on the rise, as well. And because crime goes up, the price we pay for homeowner's insurance is increasing as well. If you could save money on your homeowner's insurance by having a home security system, wouldn't you consider installing one?

Most insurance companies offer rate discounts of 10% and even as much as 20% off the regular rates to homeowners who have a home security system utilizing an alarm monitoring service that monitors for break-ins, fire, and even carbon monoxide. Discount rates can vary depending on what service you choose. Quite often the savings on homeowner's insurance will more than pay for the monthly monitoring costs. If you take into consideration what your deductible would be if you had to file a claim, you might find that the cost of the monitoring system might be less of a hit to your bank account than your deductible!

Insurance companies offer these discounts to homeowners because, statistically, homes that have a home security system are four times less likely to be broken into. With the drastically reduced risk of burglaries, insurance companies have to pay fewer large claims for property that has been stolen from their policyholders, therefore passing the savings on to their security-conscious clients.

We are in tough economic times right now, but if we can all do more to protect our property and our loved ones without increasing our monthly financial obligations, it's worth looking into. With the current unemployment rate being over 10% in many areas, desperate people are turning to desperate measures and even to crime just to survive.

A burglary happens every 30 seconds in the United States. Most burglaries happen after dark and in most cases the locations rarely ever have witnesses or home security systems. We all have to do what we can to prevent becoming victims. Taking the time to do some research and find out about the alarm monitoring companies in your area can help you make the best decision for your needs.

Calling local monitoring companies to get quotes for their systems and monthly monitoring charges will give you an idea of what to expect. Once you have an idea of what a system and monitoring service will cost, call your insurance agent to see if they offer discounts for home security systems, for alarm monitoring services, for fire, and for carbon monoxide monitoring, as well.

Owning a home monitoring system also adds value to your home. Protecting your home and your loved ones by installing a home security system is your best defense against crime, fire and carbon monoxide poisoning.

Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web.

Learn more about home security systems.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Robertson http://EzineArticles.com/?Saving-Money-on-Homeowners-Insurance-by-Having-a-Home-Security-System&id=2562982

Home Owner Insurance and Pet Dogs

by Jared Balis

Find an insurance company that will insure your dogs liability - request a free quote!

The Problem

Owning certain breeds of dogs can make it difficult to find a home owner insurance policy. Here are eight breeds that may cause a problem with your insurer:

• Staffordshire Bull Terrier
• Akita
• Siberian Husky
• Alaskan Malamute
• American Pit Bull Terrier
• Rottweiler
• Chow Chow
• German Shepherd
• Doberman Pinscher

The Solution - What You Can Do to Find the Right Insurance Company

There are many things you can do to make sure you get the best policy at the best price, while still covering animal liability.

• Call your state insurance commissioner. Ask for a list of insurers in your state that offer home owner insurance. They may know the companies that insure a home owner with certain breeds.
• Call each insurer and ask them their policy about the breed you own.
• Ask your friends and familiy, that have the same breed of dog, who they have insurance through. Find out how their company covers their dog liability.
• Show the insurance company that your dog has completed one or multiple obedience training courses.
• Tell your insurance company that your dog does not have a history of biting (if this is true)
• Visit XInsurance.com: find out more about their animal liability coverage.

Although it may not seem fair, claim histories show that certain breeds of dogs have more liability claims than other breeds.

If you are considering one of the breeds listed above, and haven't bought one yet, it's a good idea to call your insurer, or get quotes from different companies to find out what each company's policy is on that specific breed.

To avoid problems with your insurer, choose a different breed of dog. But if that's not an option, make sure you do your research first!

Home Owner Insurance - Taking a Home Inventory

by Jared Balis

Get multiple home owner insurance quotes from a local agent by requesting a free quote!

Taking a home inventory and the claims process
Taking a home inventory can be an excellent way to expedite the claims process and make it easier in the event of a loss. It takes time to complete a home inventory and do it right. But, in the event of a loss, you would be glad that you had it done in advance.

A Free Tool for Doing Your Home Inventory

The Insurance Information Institute has a valuable and free tool. It's an online program that helps you build a custom home inventory. It allows to to enter just the basic information, or get as detailed as entering serial numbers for each of your items.

Finally, it allows you to print out a complete home inventory with pictures of your house and each room, as well as very organize spreadsheets of items you have in each room and their value. I would highly recommend utilizing this free tool!

Home Owner Insurance Inventory Tool

Taking pictures gives the adjuster a visual representation of the items you own. Nowadays with digital cameras, it's a great idea to walk around your house and take pictures of the exterior, including separate buildings and your garage. Take interior pictures of each room. Take multiple pictures per room, showing close-ups of the items in that section of the room. If you have very valuable items, like jewelry or art, make sure you have good photographs of them. Keep these in your insurance file so they are available to you in an emergency.

Keep Your Home Inventory Records Somewhere Besides Your Home

In the event of a fire, or other major disaster, your home inventory file could be destroyed. It's important to keep a copy of the pictures and itemized lists at your office, a fire proof safe, a safety deposit box, or a trusted family members house.

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