Investing In Insurance

By Author: Anastacia Kriegh
Total Articles: 11
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Recent figures released by a leading insurance company revealed that the price of the average excess on a home insurance policy has steadily risen over the last two years. By the end of 2010, many policies look set to have an excess level of ?200, far higher than ever before.

Aside from hitting customers in the pocket should they have to make a claim, it also removes one of the best ways of squeezing a few extra pennies from your home insurance. The excess is the amount of money that you have to pay at the start of any claim that you make, so if you choose to set your excess at a higher level, you save money by paying lower premiums simply because you have to pay more of any claim that you make.

Finding the right excess level is a balancing act, no one ever thinks they''re going to be the victim of crime, but if your excess level is too high, one serious act of vandalism or even an accident like leaking pipes can cost you more than the amount you saved on premiums.

The trick, then, is to make an educated guess on how often you''re going to claim. One way to reduce the amount that you expect is to make your ...
... house extremely unattractive to burglars. Measures like alarms, detection lights, CCTV, even strong window locks that make your house safer will result in cheaper premiums from your insurance company.

The other advantage is that they''ll allow you to push your excess level a little higher because the chances of you being a victim of crime are made all that much lower by the extra hardware you''ve installed.

Before rushing out to buy a security system it''s important to check with your insurance company first. A lot of insurance companies have certain models that they require in order to give a customer a saving. There''s no point in spending money one system only to find that it doesn''t have an impact on your premiums and you could have bought a different system that could save you as much as 10%.

Secondly, you could have a house as safe as Fort Knox and it still might suffer a burst pipe which will cost you a lot to fix. If you set your premium high because you think your house is as safe as possible it doesn''t mean that you''re not going to suffer a natural disaster. If, for example, you live on a flood plain, it''s a good idea to have as low an excess as you possibly can.

At the end of the day, getting a burglar alarm or a detection light is about your own peace of mind. That these measures can save you money is a good reason to invest in them, but they can take a while to pay themselves off. Remember to always check with your insurer before you spend money on a new security item, and consider carefully before you raise your excess. Anastacia Kriegh chose the right home insurance policy with Kwik Fit Insurance. Anastacia Kriegh has been writing about them since.