Florida Homeowner 's Insurance: Top Ten Ways To Save

This is the ideal time to check your policy and your home to see if you can cut your costs and make up for the rates hike. Homeowner?s insurance may soon be increasing for Florida residents?and even more for those living in the southern part of the state.

Your Policy

1. One of the simplest ways to decrease your insurance premiums is to increase your deductible. This is true of most types of insurance, but few pay off as much as increasing the deductible on your home. Increase it to $2,500 and you could save hundreds of dollars every year.

2. If you?re looking at getting a new policy, ignore the new trend for online insurance shopping. In locations that are subject to special weather conditions, there called hurricanes in Florida, it?s always best to shop locally. Work with a local agent who deals with multiple carriers, and you?ll benefit by having an agent who does the shopping for you and can help you choose the best deal from among several carriers.

3. Choose an A-rated, admitted carrier. An A-rated carrier is more likely to remain financially stable in tough times, and an admitted carrier has state-approved rates and is covered by Florida?s Guarantee Fund. Both of these factors mean more security for your policy.

4. Ask your agent about their carrier?s renewal processing process, and find out if they requote the policy each year. Choose an agent that does requote every time renewal comes up to make sure you always have the best coverage at the best price.

Your Home

5. If your Florida home was built before 2002, having it surveyed for wind mitigation factors could save you hundreds of dollars every year. This kind of survey documents design features in your home?such as FBC shingles and reinforced garage doors?that help it resist damage in high winds. In most cases you?ll save enough in the first year alone to cover the cost of the survey.

6. Storm damage is a big factor in Florida insurance rates, and one way in which you can keep your rates low is by owning a home with a hip roof rather than a gable roof. This type of roof diverts wind better than a gable roof does, and puts less strain on the house during high winds.

7. Make sure your home is within five miles of a fire station, and within 1,000 feet of a fire hydrant. If it?s too far away from either of these things, you may have to buy your insurance from Citizens, Florida?s state run insurance carrier, and means paying top dollar. As in the case of the hip roof, this tip might not help if you already own a home and plan to stay there long-term. However, if you?re looking to relocate it?s something to keep in mind.

8. Have your alarm system monitored. Overall you might not save money, but it more or less allows you to improve your home?s security for free, or close to it, as the amount you save on your insurance will typically cover the cost of having your alarm monitored.

You may not want to give up a much-loved family pet, but there?s no harm in questioning how much you really need a diving board. You may even find that conventional carriers aren?t interested in insuring you, and that means getting insurance from Citizens. If you have a diving board, a trampoline, or a dog of a dangerous breed, you?ll pay dearly for it with your insurance carrier. 9.

However, if you don?t mind reducing your property a little, you can sell off an acre or two and reduce your premiums at the same time?reduce your land parcel to four acres or less and you?ll be able to shop around and reduce your costs. In most cases you?ll need to buy a policy from a specialized carrier, which naturally costs more. Owning a property of five or more acres increases your insurance costs.

10.

How To Get Affordable Car Insurance In Alabama

If you don't - and you get caught - the results will be time-consuming and far more expensive than if you had just taken the time to find affordable car insurance in Alabama in the first place. You really need to buy car insurance before you drive on any road in Alabama.

And it 's not really all that difficult to do - to find affordable car insurance in Alabama, that is.

The first thing you need to do is to simply drive legally at all times. Nothing will increase how much you pay for your car insurance faster than a speeding ticket or other moving violation.

And don't even think about driving when you're intoxicated or impaired in any way. If you are convicted of a DUI (Driving Under the Influence) or a DWI (Driving While Intoxicated), you can forget all about getting affordable car insurance for a good long while.

If you have a garage in which you can keep your car at night make sure your agent knows as this could save you money every month.

If you can use public transportation for the bulk of your "driving" needs and keep your car in its garage most of the time, you can save a considerable amount of money through a Low-Mileage discount.

If you retire and stop driving to work and back every day your agent needs to know this as it can save you quite a chunk of change every month in insurance premiums.

If you're 55 or older your company may offer a special 10% discount if you take - and pass - a special driver 's refresher course. Check with your agent to see if you qualify for this.

If you're under 25 years old then your insurance company automatically places you in a special high-risk group and you are paying more for your insurance. You can cut your costs somewhat if you stay on your parents' policy and you can save even more on top of that if you stay in school and can maintain at least a 3.0 grade point average. If you can do that you will qualify for a 5% Good Student Discount every single month.

Don't waste your money paying for comprehensive or collision coverage on a car that has no Kelly Blue Book value. If you drive a clunker cancel your collision and comprehensive and use the money you save to get a newer car.

Don't buy a new car without first checking with your agent so you know what the insurance will be. Some new cars cost a lot more to insure than others. Your agent can provide you with a list of cars that cost less to insure.

Don't make a lot of small claims. Pay the small stuff yourself and only use your insurance for a major claim. The longer you can go without filing a claim the lower your rates go. Some companies give you a break after only 6 months of claim-free driving.

How large of a deductible can you afford to pay? Be honest with yourself about this because you're going to have to come up with the deductible out of your own pocket if you ever file a claim - but just know that the larger of a deductible that you can afford to pay, the less you'll be charged for your car insurance every month.

Now take the information that you've learned from this article and use it to fill in the form on at least 3 different websites that compare prices from different insurance companies for car insurance here in Alabama.

You've now gotten the most affordable car insurance in Alabama and you can look forward to saving money month after month for a long time to come. Make sure you put the same information into the forms on all 3 websites so that your results will be useful and then simply choose the insurance company with the best price and you're golden!