Find out how to get the best rate on home insurance, discounts you may be eligible for, and 5 tips to save money. Get the Money Girl book at http://MoneyGirlBook.com
Money Girl
341 MG 5 Ways to Save Money on Home Insurance
Building a portfolio with Fidelity Basket Profolios is kinda like making a sandwich. It's as simple as picking your stocks and ETFs, sort of like your meats and other topics. And managing it as one big juicy investment. That's pretty good. Learn more at Fidelity.com/baskets. Investing involves risks including risk of loss, Fidelity Broker Services LLC, Member NYSC SIPC. At Capella University, learning the right skills could make a difference. That's why our business programs teach you relevant skills you can take from the course room to the workplace. A different future is closer than you think. With Capella University, learn more at Capella.edu. Hi everyone. I'm Laura Adams, and you're listening to the Money Girl Podcast. Getting a home mortgage means you're responsible for repaying a big debt on time. But there's another expense that you can't forget about, and that's home insurance. Most lenders will require you to have a homeowner's policy. However, just because you have to buy one doesn't mean you should overpay for it. In this episode, I'll give you five easy ways to save money on home insurance. Home insurance protects you and your lender from damage caused by unforeseen events, like a devastating fire erupting from the basement, a lawsuit from an unfortunate visitor who has a slip and fall, or a thief who takes all your valuables while you're on vacation sipping fruity drinks on the beach. But a standard homeowner's insurance policy doesn't cover every possible natural disaster. For instance, it never includes protection against floods or earthquakes. You have to buy separate policies for those. Home insurance includes the following four basic types of coverage. One, your home's structure, such as the roof or walls. Two, your personal belongings, like furniture and clothing. Three, liability for issues like getting involved in a lawsuit. Four, additional living expenses if you can't live in your home during renovations. The price you have to pay for all this protection depends on many factors concerning your home and you. The home's age, location, and construction type play a huge role in your rate. But there are personal factors, too, like whether you smoke, have a history of making home insurance claims, and have good credit. After you pay off a mortgage and own your home outright, you aren't legally required to have home insurance. However, it's still a good idea to have enough coverage to protect your finances. Here are five of the best tips to save money on home insurance. Savings tip number one, raise your deductible. Your deductible is the amount you have to pay for a covered claim before your insurance company gives you benefits. It typically applies to property claims, but not for liability. Also, depending on where you live, you may have an additional deductible for a specific natural disaster, such as a hurricane or hail storm. Let's say you have home insurance with a $500 deductible and make a claim for a kitchen fire that will cost $20,000 to repair. You'll have to pay $500, and the insurer would pick up the rest of the cost by sending you a check for $19,500. An insurance deductible and your annual rate work like a seesaw. When your deductible goes down, your premium or rate goes up. And the same is true in reverse. When you increase your deductible, your premium goes down. So use this strategy to save money. But don't raise your deductible so high that you'd get yourself into financial trouble if you actually had to make a claim. Now that we're in Q4, it's a good time to start thinking about making memories with the people you love most before the end of the year. We put a lot into the time we spend with our loved ones. So you want to extend that care, comfort, and peace of mind to what happens when you're gone. 41% of people don't have the life insurance coverage they need. Policy genius makes finding and buying life insurance a breeze. With policy genius, you can find life insurance policies at start at just $292 a year for a million dollars of coverage. And some options are 100% online and let you avoid unnecessary medical exams. Policy genius combines digital tools with the experience of real licensed agents. You can compare quotes from America's top insurers side by side for free with no hidden fees. They have an amazing licensed support team that helps you get what you need fast so you can get on with your life. They answer questions, handle paperwork, and advocate for you throughout the process. Policy genius is the country's leading online insurance marketplace. And even if you already have life insurance through work, remember it may not protect all your family's needs or follow you if you leave your job. So save money and time on providing a financial safety net for your family. Head to policygenius.com or click the link in the description to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you can save. That's policygenius.com. I love learning and anything that makes learning easier. If you're a parent and your child needs some homework help, then Ixcel is a right for your family. Ixcel is an online learning program for kids covering math, language arts, science, and social studies. Ixcel has interactive practice problems for topics from pre-K to 12th grade and everything is organized by grade and subject. As kids practice, they get positive feedback, awards, and explanations for wrong answers. Ixcel figures out what your kids need more help with and recommends more topics to practice. Their videos, lessons, sample problems, and learning games too. One subscription to Ixcel gets you all subjects and all grade levels. Membership started just $9.95 a month. It's no wonder Ixcel is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. I think the positive feedback that Ixcel gives is really crucial when it comes to learning. So make an impact on your child's learning. Get Ixcel now and money girl listeners can get an exclusive 20% off Ixcel membership when they sign up today at Ixcel.com/moneygirl. Visit Ixcel.com/moneygirl to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price. At Capella University, learning the right skills could make a difference. That's why our business programs teach you relevant skills you can take from the course room to the workplace. A different future is closer than you think. With Capella University, learn more at Capella.edu. Savings tip number two, maintain good credit. Many consumers don't realize that credit is a factor in how insurers evaluate you. The vast majority of carriers in most states use a credit-based insurance score to set your rates for both home and auto insurance. Insurers have found that policy holders with poor credit tend to make more claims. So they increase your rate to adjust for that potential future risk. That means in addition to improving your overall personal finances, establishing a good credit history will cut your insurance costs. I did a previous podcast on this topic, which is called What You Should Know About Credit-Based Insurance Scores. Some simple strategies for improving your credit include paying all your bills and credit accounts on time, never maxing out credit cards, and checking your credit report on a regular basis to correct errors that may be hurting you. For more information about how to increase your credit score, download the Credit Score Survival Kit. It's a free video tutorial that I created to show you step by step how to check your credit and get errors corrected. Plus, it includes an e-book and audiobook that explains smart strategies to build credit fast. Just visit SmartMovesToGrowRich.com and click the button that says Credit Score Survival Kit. I'll put a link to this resource in the notes for this show on the MoneyGirl page at QuickAndDirtyTips.com. Savings Tip #3 - Bundle Your Insurance Most companies that sell home insurance also sell other kinds of policies, such as auto or life insurance. If you purchase more than one type of insurance from a carrier, it may qualify you for a discount that could be as high as 15%. You still need to compare prices and make sure that a bundled price is really lower than buying separate policies from different insurers. Savings Tip #4 - Ask for Discounts Speaking of getting a price break, if you're not getting all the home insurance discounts you're eligible for, you're paying too much. Here are some examples of discounts that can cut your rates. Living near a local fire department. Having safety devices such as a security system and deadbolt locks. Having a history of being claims free. Having an impact-resistant roof. Making home renovations such as installing new wiring. Installing sensors that detect gas or water leaks. And not smoking. Note that the insurance discounts you're eligible for, vary by company and the state where you live. Savings Tip #5 - Shop Around Insurance rates vary considerably from carrier to carrier, even for the same property. And as I mentioned, so do the discounts that different companies offer. So, your best defense is to shop around on a regular basis. If you already have a home insurance policy, let your agent know that you're looking for the best price and see if they can cut your rate. Sometimes, sticking with your current insurer qualifies you for a loyalty discount. However, until you shop around, you simply won't know if a better deal is out there. It's easy to get free quotes with no obligation. It cites like insurancequotes.com and netquote.com. They match you with the top nationwide carriers who write policies in your zip code. No matter what, take a few minutes each year to compare the price you're paying for home insurance to brand new quotes. If you have questions about insurance, any kind of insurance, email them to me at money@quickendirtytips.com. If we haven't connected on social media yet, please visit Facebook and do a search for MoneyGirl. On Twitter, you'll find me under user name @LaraAdams, L-A-U-R-A-A-D-A-M-S with NoSpace. Everything I mentioned is on the MoneyGirl page at quickanddirtytips.com. To read a transcript of this show, look for episode number 341 called "Five Ways to Save Money on Home Insurance." I'm glad you're listening to Ching. That's all for now. Courtesy of MoneyGirl, your guide to a richer life. ♪♪ Is it time to reimagine your future? The right business skills may make a difference in your career. At Capelli University, we offer a relevant education that's designed to focus on what you need to know in the business world. We'll teach professional skills to help you pursue your goals, like business management, strategic planning, and effective communication. And you can apply these skills right away. A different future is closer than you think with Capelli University. Learn more at Capella.edu. When you need mealtime inspiration, it's worth shoppingking supers for thousands of appetizing ingredients that inspire countless mouth-watering meals. 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