Be Careful: These 5 things will Increase Home Insurance Premiums

These days, it seems like the typical Canadian homeowner is easily paying more than $100 monthly in home insurance. It can be a big part of someone's budget, especially for very first time home buyers.

There know steps you can take to a minimum of make sure the rate stays exactly the same, but some factors are just from your control. Listed here are five factors that will modify the price of your house insurance.

1. Possess a low deductible

The simplest way to increase home insurance premiums would be to reduce the size your deductible.

Many insurance plans come with a standard $500 deductible, but it is easy to switch it to $1,000. Or, if you are really risk averse, even $250 deductibles are available.

Increasing your deductible decreases your rate. First, a greater deductible cuts down on amount the insurer has to pay out for small claims. Second, it discourages making small claims to begin with. A decrease in claims is good news to have an insurer, which in turn passes some of the savings back to the customer.

2. Excessive claims

I've always viewed property insurance because the worst case option. It's there in case the home burns down or there is a break-in.

Yet many people will make claims on their insurance even if the damage is small. Say you have a $1,000 deductible, and also you get damage that'll cost $1,200 to repair. You're likely best to just pay it of pocket and never make a claim, since the insurer increases home insurance costs next year to pay for the loss in the claim.

3. Worse credit

Especially while you shop for a new policy or renew, your insurance provider takes a glance at your credit rating. It's area of the small print that ends a credit card applicatoin.

If your credit rating goes down substantially, it'll affect just how much you have to pay. Exactly the same types of factors that lead to a credit rating dropping tend to lead to someone being a higher insurance risk. They go hand in hand. You'll pay more in case your credit is impaired.

4. Insurance industry issues

The insurance industry was not a great performer since the Great Recession of 2008-09.

The insurance business works like this: The organization takes your premiums and invests them. The gain on the invested premium minus any claims is the insurance company's profit.

Most of the money ends up in safe investments, like bonds. Because interest rates are extremely low, insurance companies happen to be instructed to increase premiums to create up for lackluster investment returns. This really is good news for insurance provider shareholders, but not so good news for homeowners, because it can mean a rise in property insurance premiums.

5. Blindly signing renewals

The financial services industry loves customers which go with similar company come renewal time, maybe it's a mortgage or home insurance.

If you shop your house insurance every year, there's potential to avoid wasting major cash. I've heard of people saving hundreds of dollars simply by spending 5 minutes of their time using rate comparison tools. A great starting point shopping is by using exactly the same company which has your vehicle insurance, because so many offer discounts whenever you bundle several services together.

Unfortunately, your home insurance coverage is still likely to sneak in every year. But when you utilize these five tips, you'll a minimum of slow down the inevitable.

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