You’ve done the sensible thing every homeowner or renter should do: you got the insurance quote, and you want to protect your home the best you can. However, the price is way higher than you expect. It’s not random either; insurance quotes are tied to risk, details and choices you’ve made while selecting the policy. The good news is many of the factors affecting your quote are pretty easy to understand, and better still, you might even be able to fix them.

Lack Of Security Features

Homes that don’t have any burglary alarms or security systems in place are much more likely to be broken into. Theft, vandalism and losses tend to also be a lot larger and more impactful when there aren’t any kind of early detection alerts in your home. As a result, home insurance is likely to cost a lot more due to the associated risks. 

Not having fire or carbon monoxide alarms can also significantly impact your quote. Detecting a fire early can really reduce the amount of damage done to your home. So even though fires are rare, the high cost of a fire is exactly why they may increase the premium.

These kinds of factors, however, are super easy to fix. Just adding a fire alarm and some kind of anti-theft system can reduce your premiums dramatically. The lower the risk to your property, the less potential for damage and the less likely you are to need to make a claim.

Any Previous Claims History

Insurance prices can rely a lot on past personal claims history. If you or anyone else at the property you live at has previously had to file a claim, then your premiums are likely to increase. Multiple claims also suggest that there is a pattern. Even smaller claims (that weren’t even your fault) can signify that you’re more likely to claim again in the future, so for the insurance companies, your property is a higher risk. 

In order to lower your quotes in the future, really think about needing to claim whenever you’re in a situation where you might do so. If you can pay out of pocket, then you should do so if you can. Often, companies have a no claims discount, so if you’re able to avoid submitting a claim for smaller incidents, then your premiums should decrease. 

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State Of The Building

The most obvious thing that affects your quote is the state of the property itself. Any outdated electrical/plumbing systems will significantly raise the costs, as they’re a lot more likely to go wrong and cause damage to the property and your belongings. Consider the age of the roof too. Older roofs tend to have a lot more issues. They are the source of a lot of insurance claims because of wind and water damage that can come with an aging roof. 

These sorts of issues can be a bit more expensive to fix, but upgrading your roofing and alarm systems can drastically decrease the amount your insurance would cost.

There are a lot of different factors that go into insurance quote pricing. Once you understand that it’s all about risk and the likely would of needing to claim, it’s easy to make changes in order to reduce the costs of those premiums.