Home Insurance Rates Look Likely To Rise. Here Are 5 Ways To Reduce Your Home Insurance Costs

If you have a mortgage, your mortgage provider will require you to get adequate home insurance cover. This is one of the unavoidable costs involved in owning a home. Recently, there have been a number of climate change disasters that have taken their toll on the insurance industry in the form of weather damage to infrastructure, business and homes.  This will eventually mean that higher premiums are inevitable, even if you were not directly impacted.

Below is a list of points that will help you get the best insurance policy at a reasonable price:

Shop around

There are roughly 200 property and casualty insurance companies in Canada that want your business. Using the power of the internet, there are several online portals and aggregator sites that will do the legwork for you and compare different quotes among different companies. Do you due diligence and chose the one that best suits you (make sure you contact and compare at least 3 quotes).

Hike up your deductible

In the insurance industry, the higher the deductible, the lower the premium. A deductible is the amount you pay towards a claim. Remember to avoid small claims that could raise your premium. At the same time make sure that the deductible is an amount you can afford out of pocket.

Get all the available discounts

Many homeowners ignore the fact that insurers give discounts for factors that lower insurance risk. There are discounts if you have installed smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, energy efficient upgrades, 24 hour monitored alarm systems, and being a non-smoker.

Review your policy every anniversary

It’s important to review your policy with your insurance agent every year. There may be changes in your household that could warrant changes in the amount of insurance cover required. Also, you advisor could give you important updates that could affect your cover.

Bundle your insurance

Insurance companies want your business. If you combine your auto insurance and any other insurance with your home insurance, you could get potential savings. You may also want to enquire if you can get discounted rates form your employer, bank, or other association. It’s a good thing to ask and compare.

Home insurance is evolving with the times and there are many factors that impact the insurance market – from the cost of building materials, low interest rates and natural disasters. So it is important that you are always top of mind when it comes to your home insurance.

If you have any questions regarding this topic or any other useful blog topics that we post, please contact us or call us on 604 913 1000.