How To Get Affordable Homeowner's Insurance In South Carolina

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For the vast majority of South Carolina homeowners, their home is, by far, their biggest and their most valuable asset. For this reason over 90% of all homeowner's in the state buy homeowner's insurance.

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For the vast majority of South Carolina homeowners, their home is, by far, their biggest and their most valuable asset. For this reason over 90% of all homeowner's in the state buy homeowner's insurance.

This is true regardless of whether a home is being financed or not. Obviously your mortgage lender has the right to demand that you purchase homeowner's insurance, but keep in mind that while your lender can require you to buy homeowner's insurance your lender cannot tell you which insurance company to purchase it from. This gives you the opportunity to find affordable homeowner's insurance here in South Carolina.

In any event there are several steps you can take that will lower the cost of your homeowner's insurance.

Start by making the outside of your home safe. Homeowner's policies cover injuries on your property, so the safer your property is the less you should have to pay for your insurance. Start by repairing or replacing any broken or buckled sidewalks or other cement. Fill in potholes. Replace lose or rotten boards in decks or porches and make sure all railings are secure. Let your agent know you've done this work.

Burglaries are also a concern for your insurance company. Install motion-sensitive floodlights, trim bushes away from all windows, install deadbolt locks on all exterior doors and make certain that every window in your house has a working lock.

A home security system that monitors your house 24/7 is an excellent idea and such systems can save you 20% or even more on your monthly homeowner's insurance bill - but check with your agent before purchasing any system as not all systems will qualify for the full discount on your insurance.

If you have a home-based business ask your tax man if all or a portion of your home security system could be written off on your taxes - this could save you even more money!

If you have a retired person 55 or older living in the home make sure your agent knows about it as this could save you money each and every month.

Did you know that the primary claim against a homeowner's policy is for water damage caused by a broken water line or a broken appliance connection? If your home is over 10 years old ask your agent how much you would save each and every month if you made a one-time investment in upgrading your plumbing and electrical systems.

Have you installed the proper number of fire and smoke detectors for the size and configuration of your house? Do they all have fresh batteries? Batteries must be changed twice yearly.

Do you have a kitchen-rated fire extinguisher in your kitchen?

Check with any clubs, organizations or associations that you belong to and see if any of them offer low-cost group homeowner's insurance.

Consolidate all your insurance policies with the same company. This will give you a rather nice Multi-Policy Discount on your homeowner's insurance.

If you've been with the same insurance company for at least 3 to 5 years ask if you qualify for a Long-Term Policy Discount.

Increasing your deductible is a fast and easy way to lower your monthly homeowner's insurance payment, but this is something that needs to be considered carefully as any increase in your deductible represents cash that you will need to come up with each year before your insurance will pay for any claims. Don't promise to pay more than you can actually afford.

Now find 3 different websites that allow you to make homeowner's insurance price comparisons from different insurance companies. What you want to do is to use the information in this article in order to fill out the form on all 3 comparison websites exactly the same - that way your comparison provides you with valid information.

Your next step is to decide which insurance companies you feel confident will still be here in 20 to 30 years, and then simply choose the least expensive from among those companies. That's it. That's all there is to getting affordable homeowner's insurance in South Carolina. So sleep well knowing that you are now saving as much money each month as you possibly can while still protecting your greatest asset - your home.