At GSI Insurance, we often speak about the importance of looking for suitable and cost-effective cover for home insurance, rather than simply trying to find the cheapest policy you can.

Our logic in saying that is clear and based upon our extensive experience. Insurance is something you call upon to help you when you need to make a claim. Should that happen, you’ll want to know that you’re covered for the situation involved – not that you purchased the cheapest policy you could find!

Of course, we also know that for our customers, cost is an important factor. The good news is that you may have more control over the cost of your home insurance than you might think.

That’s why we’re offering below a few ideas on how you may be able to reduce your premium.

Take advantages of discounts

It may be possible to save some significant sums through discounts. They might exist in areas such as:

• purchasing more than one type of policy from a provider, meaning that the second and subsequent policies may bring with them interesting discounts (visit our discounts page here for more information);
• accepting a higher voluntary excess on your home insurance. The excess is the amount of money which you will be obliged to pay as the first part of any future successful claim. Increasing that on a voluntary basis reduces the risks to the insurer and that means you may benefit from lower prices;
• avoiding small claims. True, insurance exists to allow you to make claims when you suffer a loss for reasons covered by the policy. However, your policy probably has a “no claims discount” or the equivalent. It might be prudent to avoid putting that at risk by making claims for relatively modest amounts. Having a full no claims discount may be worth a great deal of money to you;
• reducing the risks of certain types of incidents arising with your home. For example, some home insurance policies may offer discounts if you have fitted a burglar alarm and other security-related protection.

Purchasing appropriate cover

Not all home insurance policies are the same. Typically they will come with different areas of cover, terms and conditions and in some cases, exclusions.

If you have selected a policy that has forms of cover you see as essential, included only as optional extras, it may not be particularly cost-effective. That’s because if you have to pay additional sums for each element of optional cover you decide you need, the price may climb fairly quickly.

By contrast, using a specialist provider of home insurance may result in a broader base of cover included as standard. One potential example here might be something such as subsidence cover. That is not necessarily included automatically in all home insurance policies.

Provide special security for high-value items

Some insurers may feel uneasy if you have individual high-value items included in your property contents. Examples might include very expensive jewellery, family heirlooms or unique antique items.

Almost inevitably, if insurers feel uneasy then the result is typically a higher premium.

You may be able to avoid that if you are able to offer confirmation that you have something such as a professionally installed safe or strongbox at your property to keep your valuables safe. An alternative might be to store such valuables in a bank safety deposit box, apart from on the occasions you are using them.

Summary

Here we have barely skimmed the surface of the options that might be open to you in terms of saving money on your home insurance. Why not contact us to find out