Where to find a low cost home insurance?

Answer 1

The answer depends upon far too many factors to answer comprehensively. However, a few of the factors are these:

1. Where the home is located because different States have different prevailing rates. For the most part, insurers set the rates subject to regulatory approval. In general, the rate (which translates to a premium) cannot be excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory).

2. Characteristics of the home (age, roof style, how the house is constructed, such as all brick, wood frame, mobile home, etc.).

3. The breadth of the coverage sought. The broader the coverage, the greater the premium. For example, a policy that covers only the structure of the home will be less costly that one covering contents, too.

4. The deductible chosen. A deductible is an amount of money for which the insured is individually responsible before the obligation of the insurer to pay is triggered. A higher deductible will generally translate into a lower premium.

Never purchase insurance of any type based only on advertisements or professions of "low rates". "Low rates" are relative and correlate with the extent of coverage that you buy. You also have to be concerned with the quality of claims service. That is, insurance is not much good if servicing of your claim is bad. Ask around--friends, family as to what their experience has been with the claims service of various insurers. You can also call the State Insurance Department in your State once you have narrowed your choices to get an idea of the "complaint ratio" of the insurers that you are considering. Generally, the lower the ratio the better (complaints per policies issued or dollar volume of premiums paid).

Finally, deal only with authorized insurers. These are ones that are licensed to transact homeowner's business in your State (this goes for all kinds of insurance). In times when insurance is hard to get or very costly, scams often arise. Entities are created that claim to be valid insurers but which are not. They accept premiums, may pay a few claims, but then disappear. Your Insurance Department will be able to confirm whether an insurer is authorized to transact the type of insurance that you seek.