10 Ways to Reduce Your Home Insurance Premiums

Insurance policies can be very expensive, but making sure you have the right home contents and buildings insurance is vital. There are ways to reduce your premiums without cutting cover however; here are some tips which may help you:

10 Ways to reduce home insurance premiums

Get a policy with a no claims discount. It sounds obvious, but if you don't make a claim for a number of years your premiums will get cheaper.
Upgrade your security system. Installing an alarm or better locks on doors and windows can help to reduce the cost of your insurance quite significantly.
Increase the policy excess. This is a calculated risk: if you are confident that you have protected your home from being targeted by burglars you may feel confident to commit to paying a higher excess should anything happen.
Buy your home contents, buildings and car insurance from the same company. Many big insurers will offer discounts in exchange for this kind of customer loyalty.
Tailor your policy. Make sure you know what you need - if an off-the-shelf policy contains more cover than you want you could be paying too much.
Do you really need accidental damage cover? If you think you can manage without it then this can make a big difference, with some companies it can reduce your premium by as much as 25%.
Think about fire. Are you a smoker? Quit for your health and your household insurance! Fire damage is a major contributor to insurance claims and you will be classed as a higher risk customer if you smoke.
Don't claim unless you really need to. If something gets damaged, weigh up the cost of paying for repairs against your policy excess and the knock-on effect on next years premiums and make a sensible choice.
Get involved with neighbourhood watch. If you inform your insurers that you are part of a scheme like this they may offer to reduce your premiums accordingly.
Shop around! If you think you are paying too much compared to the neighbours then get some alternative quotes.

By taking into account all these 10 factors when you are researching your insurance you will not fail to find the best way for you to reduce your insurance. You don't need to read every insurance article on the web. Just stick to these 10 points that will help you reduce insurance costs.