# Saving on home insurance?



## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

OK, I reckon I've spent over $15K on my home insurance since we've owned a house. Never had a claim. I get the annual invoice, pay the premium, put the policy in a drawer, then repeat the process each year. and guess what - the premiums seem to creep up each year. I'm thinking of cancelling altogether... of course that'll be the week da wife leaves a pot to burn on the stove & the place burns down! I'm looking for any tips / suggestions to reduce my premiums. (I already combine it with my auto ins. & I think I get a "no claims" discount) Premium is due again in a month or so. Can I get just "fire insurance"? That's all I really want I think. Any comments?


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## cainvest (May 1, 2013)

Just ask your insurance broker and maybe one other broker from a different company. Also review your last years policy, especially the line items that have a dollar value beside them and see if you "need" those.


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## RBull (Jan 20, 2013)

^Agree with checking the line items that should all be "optional", although there may be few or none. (I have only one at $10)

A good broker may also come up with some money saving ideas for you....and multiple quotes. 

I would do some research yourself with getting quotes from 2-3 insurance companies direct. My home insurance has not crept up automatically each year. 

Even if its available just getting fire insurance might leave you overly exposed on a large and important asset. Say someone broke and vandalized and destroyed the place inside, or a pipe bursts when you're out. Not something too take lightly especially on retirement income.


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## agent99 (Sep 11, 2013)

One thing that you get with home insurance, is personal liability coverage. This covers things like someone slipping on your driveway and getting injured, your dog biting someone etc. But it also covers you when away from home. For example, we rent as snowbirds in USA - If we caused damage to property or persons while down there, we could be liable for large claims. Auto and Marine insurance covers you for your liability while driving or boating, but your home owners covers almost everything else. We have just $1Million liability coverage and think we should increase it. There are also umbrella policy add-ons that increase liability across all your policies (at a cost!)

We have no basement, so were able to eliminate coverage for damage from surface water. Some saving there.

We also switched from TD Insurance, because they kept upping the replacement value of our home. Our home could be rebuilt for about $300k. TD had that up to over $500k. They were impossible to deal with, so we switched to State Farm (who have since been sold  ) They used industry standard home replacement estimation software and it came up with a realistic number for our location. I bought a short term licence myself and confirmed their numbers. Xactware


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## newuser (Sep 16, 2014)

+1 on switching insurance companies. Get quotes and mention any groups that you belong to. E.g. university alumni, professional association (IEEE, PEO, etc.), employee of a large company, member of other large social groups (CARP, etc.).


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

It's more than fire that can cause major loss. And there is good value in liability coverage in our litigious world. But if you don't care about coverage for minor losses, ask for a higher deductible to lower your rates.

PS. Do you still have a mortgage? Because mortgagors generally require that you insure the property.


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