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With adulthood comes independence, family plans, and hopefully (!), enough financial capital to buy a nice home of your own. However, the costs of buying a home can quickly add up – what with mortgage payments, property taxes, maintenance expenses and so on. You can easily reduce your financial stress and significantly lower your home insurance premium by following these seven tips:
Go green when renovating
Every reno designed to improve your home’s lifespan or energy efficiency will lower the cost of your home insurance. That’s why you should consider installing a heat pump, smart thermostats, a solar panel heating system, or any more energy-efficient electrical system. It’s also good to change the windows for more energy-efficient ones and even insulate the basement.
Don’t forget a good alarm system
Any measure that can help prevent fire or burglary in your home will lower your home insurance. Install a good alarm system – ideally equipped with motion detectors and connected to a central monitoring station. Remember to install smoke detectors and fire extinguishers as well, and make sure your electrical system meets safety standards.
Prevent water damage
Your home insurance broker will take into account of whatever you do to prevent water damage – for example, by installing a new water heater, because water heaters should be changed roughly every 10 years. In addition, having a stormwater retention tank and a safety valve will prevent water leak damage. Install backflow prevention valves on all pipes in the home and, if possible, a water leak detector. Replacing the roof with more leak-proof materials is also a good idea to prevent water infiltration.
Carefully assess your needs
Making an inventory of your belongings and thinking about what you actually need will help you obtain insurance that matches your situation at the lowest possible cost. Estimate the value of your possessions as accurately as possible based on their current replacement cost. Also declare the value of all major renovations because they will affect the cost of rebuilding or repairing the home if it is severely damaged. If manageable, increase the amount of your deductible because that will lower your insurance premium.
Protect your credit rating
What’s the connection between credit rating and home insurance? It’s quite simple: studies show that people with good credit ratings also look after their homes better. That’s why a good credit rating is key to obtaining home insurance at a reasonable price.
Bundle your insurance
It’s always beneficial to bundle your auto and home insurance with the same insurer. Discounts for bundled insurance, like Intact Insurance’s Synchro Insurance, can guarantee you savings of up to 15% as well as many other advantages.
Don’t miss out on any discounts
If you belong to a professional order, a student association, a labour union, or any other such group, notify your broker. You could be entitled to a further discount on your home insurance. It would be too bad if you missed out!
If you follow all these tips and smart ideas, you could save hundreds of dollars on your insurance premium. Talk it over with your broker to know the impact on your home insurance premium.
This website provides general information only. Your insurance policy contract takes precedence at all times.