Home insurance is one of those things that we all need to have in place should anything go wrong. Home insurance considers measures you have put into place to protect your home. Without such measures, you could be paying a higher premium. Here are 5 things you can do to reduce your home insurance costs.
1. Fit a burglar alarm
Installing a burglar alarm could seriously affect your home insurance premium! Your insurer will likely ask if you have an alarm, and if it is maintained or monitored. Most insurers will offer a discount on home insurance for homes with a burglar alarm maintained by an NSI/NACOSS or SSAIB approved security company. A monitored alarm will further reduce your premium. Whilst it does come at an additional cost, a monitored intruder alarm not only reduces your home insurance premium, it also reduces your worries. Insurers, like criminals, won’t pay any heed to dummy boxes, whereas a professional system could really protect your home.
2. Secure more than your home
Home insurance is about more than just your home. It includes your garden, garages and outbuildings. By making sure that your garage, shed and garden buildings are as secure as your home you could reduce your home insurance premium. Many people keep high value items in outbuildings and garages – from cars & bikes to model railways and garden tools & furniture. Insurers agree that these should to be protected with robust security, without which, you could be paying more on your home insurance.
3. Join the neighbourhood watch scheme
Neighbourhood watch schemes have been around for a long time. The sign is a reassuring one to spot in any neighbourhood. Some insurance companies offer discounts for neighbourhood watch members, as joining your local neighbourhood watch group can help to protect your home.
Invest in extra devices to burglar proof your home – including CCTV, security lighting
It can pay to invest in extra security measures such as CCTV or outside lighting. Whilst these can be quite a big investment, they will also reduce your risk of becoming a victim of a break in – which is incredibly costly.
4. Protect against flooding
There are many reasons that people will need to claim on home insurance, from break ins to accidental damage to flooding. There are some steps you can take to reduce the risk of flooding, as listed here. In addition to this, early warning notifications can help to minimise damage from flooding. Flood sensors such as these can alert you to a leak or flood.
5. Fit robust locks on your doors & windows
One way to be confident that your locks are robust is to ensure that your doors & locks meet the relevant British Standards. Insurers will ask about the types of lock you have. Locks which aren’t up to standard could result in you paying more for your home insurance. Doors tested to PAS24 are put through a stringent test including a simulated burglar attack to ensure they will protect your home. Of course the most important thing is to remember to actually use your locks and lock the door.
Prevention…
As the old adage goes; prevention is better than the cure. Putting measures in place to prevent an incident which would result in a home insurance claim is the best way to keep your home insurance to a minimum.
Are you a Keybury customer completing your home insurance renewal?
For customers with Keybury maintenance cover, you have an NSI Gold security company maintaining your intruder alarm system. Some insurers may have NACOSS on their drop down list, rather than NSI. NACOSS is the old name for NSI. More about what NSI Gold means here. If you need any help or have any questions contact our team on 01535 661197 and we’ll be happy to help.