Advice on reducing your home insurance premium

Many insurance providers, when it comes to working out how much to charge you for home insurance, will begin by looking at your postcode. The reason they do this is to determine the risk factor involved in insuring a home in your locale, based on factors such as the risk of subsidence, the level of reported criminal activity in your area, and the relative number of claims made by your neighbours in the past.

Your claims history may well be another factor that your insurer is likely to take into account when deciding how much to charge you for insurance. If you haven’t claimed on your home insurance in the past, you will be in line for a much cheaper premium than someone who has. The circumstances of your life may also figure in the sums your insurance provider has to do when deciding your premium. Retired people, who tend to be at home during the day more than working people, can enjoy cheaper premiums as a result. Similarly, if you leave your home unattended for more than a month at a time, say to go on an extended holiday, you may find that you are not insured against damage or theft in these circumstances unless you have an occasionally costly agreement with your insurance provider.

Some insurers also offer a discount if you get both your contents and buildings insurance from them. You can also get discounts by purchasing online. Kwik Fit Insurance, for example, offer a 15% discount when you visit their website to buy home insurance.
If you live in an area that is prone to flooding, such as a street near a riverbank, you will most likely have to pay higher insurance premiums as a result. Though there is little that can be done about this, aside from moving home entirely, some insurers do offer discounts to homeowners who upgrade their homes to protect against flood damage.

However, there are a few things that you can do to bring down the cost of your home insurance premium. You could, for example, opt for a pay an agreed percentage of any claim yourself, an amount commonly known as the excess. Another way to bring down your house is to upgrade it by Installing smoke alarms, more secure locks, and burglar alarms.