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Smart Ways to Save Money

If you’re looking to lower the cost of your home insurance, there are many easy and affordable home improvement options available. The following simple precautions will not only help make your home a safer place to live, they’ll also save you money in the process:

Minimize the Risk of Fire

Here’s how you can better protect your home and also qualify for additional home insurance discounts just by taking a few simple fire prevention precautions:

• Install smoke detectors throughout your home, especially in key areas such as your kitchen, laundry room and near the bedrooms – this will qualify you for extra discounts.

• You may receive a credit for keeping a fire extinguisher on hand near your kitchen, garage, or fireplace. Make sure everyone in your household knows how to locate and use the fire extinguisher.

• If your home’s electrical wiring is more than 30 years old, you should consider upgrading it. Having upgraded electrical wiring also qualifies you for additional credits and discounts on your policy.

• If you’re not a smoker, you may be overpaying for home insurance. Insurance companies typically offer discounts for home owners who don’t have any smokers in their households, since cigarettes are responsible for so many fires each year. Request home insurance quotes today to find out how much you save just by not smoking.

Burglar-Proof Your Home

Reducing the chance that your home will be burglarized will not only help to protect your family and your belongings, it will also reduce your home insurance premium. By putting the following simple security measures in place, you can earn significant discounts:

• Installing a home security system or alarm in your house helps discourage potential burglars and will also automatically notify authorities in the event of a break-in. Most insurance companies offer a 15-20% discount on your policy if you have a security system installed.

• Test your doors and windows to make sure that all locks work properly and there are no obvious gaps or weak points.

• Other easy and affordable ways to qualify for discounts include: install deadbolt locks on all doors, place special locks on all ground floor windows, and set timers to turn your indoor and outdoor lighting on and off when you’re not at home.

Weather-Proof Your Home

Preparing your home for winter weather can save you money on insurance by minimizing the risk of cold weather-related damages.

• Take time to inspect your roof before the winter season starts. Look for things like loose shingles, gutters, downspouts, and other parts of your roof that could become severely damaged from the weight of heavy snow or ice.

• Before the temperature turns cold, wrap any water pipes that are located just inside your exterior walls with insulation to prevent them from freezing. Add weather stripping and caulking to windows to prevent cold air from entering your home.

• If you use a fireplace to heat your home in the winter, have a professional inspect it for potential damage and properly clean out your chimney. This will make sure that everything is working properly and will help prevent a chimney-related fire.