6) Maintain a relationship with one Insurer. Some companies will give special considerations for your loyalty. They may reduce their premiums by 5% if you stay with them for 3 to 5 years, and up to 10% if you remain with them for 6 or more years.

7) Make your home safer. Installing burglar alarms and dead-bolts can usually get you a discount of at least 5%. Installing a more sophisticated sprinkler system, and fire and/or burglar alarms that ring directly to the police station, fire house or other monitoring facility, could give you 15 to 20 % off your premium. Before you buy a system, check with your insurer to see if the system will qualify and how much you can save on your premium.

8)  Compare the limits in your policy to the value of your possessions at least once a year. Check your policy yearly to make sure you have adequate coverage on all improvements and major purchases.

1)  Buy your Home and Auto policies from the
same insurer. Some companies will take 5 to 15 % off your premium if you buy two or more policies from them.

2)  Raise your deductible. Companies will give you savings if you increase your deductible (the amount of money you have to pay toward a loss before your insurance company starts to pay). A deductible on a Homeowners Policy typically starts at $250. As you increase your deductible, your savings increase too.

$500 deductible = up to 12% in savings
$1,000 deductible = up to 24% in savings
$2,500 deductible = up to 30% in savings
$5,000 deductible = up to 37% in savings

3)  Insure your home, not the land. The land your house is on isn’t at risk from theft, windstorm, fire and the other perils covered in your Homeowners Policy. Don’t include its value in deciding how much Homeowners Insurance to buy. If you do, you’ll end up paying a higher premium than you should.

4) Don’t smoke! Careless smoking accounts for more than 23,000 residential fires a year. Many insurers will reduce premiums if none of the residents in a home smoke.

5) Ask about discounts. If you are retired, you are more likely to be at home more often and therefore spot fires sooner than working people. Chances are, you spend more time maintaining your homes as well. If you’re 55 years or older and retired, you may qualify for a discount of up to 10% with some companies.