Home Improvements That Lower Your Insurance Rates

There are two types of physical losses that your homeowner’s insurance is mainly there to cover against: losses due to theft and losses due to fire.  Therefore when you make improvements that will help prevent burglary, prevent fires, or minimize the damage done by fires, you not only make your home and family safer, you can often get fairly good discounts on your insurance.

For security improvements, the most obvious is a burglar alarm, but additional improvements can have an effect. A burglar alarm only helps once the thieves have broken in. Putting better locks on your doors and windows can make a difference both in your level of safety and in your rates.

With fire safety, the older your home and appliances are, the more likely worn wiring can start an electrical fire. Check with your insurer to see if there are wiring inspections that may not only help lower your risks of electrical fires, but your rates as well. Options like fire sprinklers may seem a bit expensive, but just like granite countertops, they’ll add to the value of your home when you sell it someday, and in the near future, the savings on your insurance bill will help offset at least part of the cost.

Before you go out and make improvements, discuss them with your insurance agent. If you have a list of improvements you’re considering, finding out the impact they’ll have on your insurance bill may help you pick which ones to do first.