Saturday, August 31, 2013

Florida Homeowners Insurance - Where To Get The Best Quotes

By Brian Stevens


Your home is an enormous investment. It might be the largest investment you will make, so you'll want to ensure you protect that investment by buying home insurance without spending an arm and a leg to obtain it. And so the question is exactly where can you obtain the least costly Florida home insurance rates with a top-rated insurer?

The answer to that question is right in front of you.

Your house is an enormous financial investment. It may be the biggest investment you'll make, so you should ensure that you safeguard that financial investment by buying homeowners insurance without having to spend an arm and a leg to get it. But where can you get the best deal on Florida homeowners insurance with a top provider?

Actually the answer to that question is actually right in front of you. You can go to an insurance comparison website and get fast Florida homeowners insurance price quotes. At these sites you will complete a basic questionnaire with information about your house as well as your insurance needs. You only need to fill out this questionnaire one time to get fast, accurate quotes from a number of different insurance carriers.

Getting Started

You want to have the following information on hand when you visit a comparison website to get your quotes . . .

- The square footage of your home

- When your home was built

- How far away the nearest fire hydrant is

- What your home is made of, including the walls, roof, and foundation

- How much coverage you will need

- How large of a deductible you'd like

- Any security and safety features that you have in your home including burglar alarms, smoke detectors, and fire extinguishers

Getting The Lowest Price Quote

If you want to decrease your rate even further, do the following:

- When entering your deductible (the total amount you must pay before your insurance plan kicks in) make it as high as you are able to afford. The usual deductible for Florida home insurance quotes is $250. If you increase it to $500 you'll save as much as 15% on your insurance. Raise it to $1,000 and you will save up to 25% on your premiums. And if you increase it to $2,500 you'll save up to 30%. The caveat here is to make sure you can afford the increased deductible.

- Don't use the appraised value of your house for the actual amount of your coverage because that includes the value of the land your home is situated on. Get an estimate of how much it would cost to rebuild your home from a builder or a real estate agent. Next take an inventory of your possessions such as clothing, electronic devices, kitchen appliances, jewelry, as well as furniture in order to get their total value.

- Get all the discounts you are entitled to. Florida homeowners insurance companies usually provide discounts when you have your home and car insurance with the same provider, non-smokers discounts if you do not smoke, senior citizen discounts if you're 55 or older and retired, and security discounts if you have deadbolt locks as well as security alarms.

Ask About Other Discounts

Insurance providers have a host of lesser known discounts that you might not be aware of such as a 5% to 10% discount if you reside within a gated community, and a 5% to 10% discount if you are a member of a home owners association. That being the case, make sure you get your agent to tell you about the many discounts he or she has available.

Making Your Choice

Once you obtain your quotes you will want to choose the best price quote with a top-rated provider. You want a company that has an "A" rating or greater. Comparison websites mostly work with providers that have an "A" rating or better. However, if you want to check out a company's rating go to JDPowers.com to check its consumer rating, and Standard and Poors website to check their financial rating.

Bottom line

It will only take a few minutes of your time to obtain a cheap price quote with a top company using a comparison site and, believe me, it will be worth it. In fact, when I used a comparison site to see if I could get a better price on my insurance plan, I ended up saving $640 on my premiums by switching providers.

[See how get affordable Florida homeowners insruance]





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