Cheap homeowners insurance. Does it really exist? Yes … if you know how and where to look. Here’s how to find cheap homeowners insurance the easy way.
What Homeowners Insurance Covers
Structural Coverage – This coverage pays to have your home rebuilt if it’s damaged or destroyed. To find out how much coverage you need, get the square-foot building cost in your area from a builder or a realtor, then multiply that figure by your home’s square footage.
Personal Property Coverage – Your personal property is anything in your home that is not not part of the house structure – clothing, furniture, appliances, electronics, etc. To figure out how much personal property coverage you need, take an inventory of everything you own, then add up each item’s value to get the coverage amount.
Expensive items like jewelry, furs, antiques, and collectables may not be covered under some policies, so you’ll need to purchase extra insurance to cover them.
Liability Coverage – Liability coverage pays for damage done to others and their property when you’re at fault. It also pays for your legal fees if you’re sued. If you don’t have a lot of assets, $100,000 coverage may be enough. But if you do have a lot of assets that you could lose in a lawsuit, consider purchasing at least $300,000 to $500,000 worth of liability coverage
Off-Premises Coverage – This pays for your basic living expenses if your home becomes uninhabitable due to fire or other causes. This coverage is especially important if you live in a high risk area for natural disasters.
Most homeowners policies do not cover floods and earthquakes, so you’ll need to purchase extra coverage if you live in a flood or earthquake zone.
How to Get Cheap Homeowners Insurance
Insurance rates can vary by hundreds, even thousands of dollars from one company to the next. This being the case, the best way to get cheap homeowners insurance is to go to an insurance comparison website where you can compare rates from a number of different companies.
A few comparison sites even have insurance professionals on hand to answer any questions you may have through their online chat service (See link below.)
To get the cheapest rate, make sure to request the highest deductible you can afford, and get all the discounts you’re eligible for.
