Home Insurance Tips for 2014 Whether you are looking to purchase homeowners insurance in Palm Desert or the surrounding area,

you should know right now that it’s not a luxury, nor is it something you want to skimp on. Buying home

insurance in Palm Desert isn’t as big a decision as buying your home, but you are going to want to

protect your investment, whether it’s a starter home or a vacation home. Below are a few tips that will

help you get not only the right coverage, but will also help you save a little bit without sacrificing what

you need.

Security and disaster protection Before going any further with the financial aspects of insurance and ways you can save money, let us

also remember that a lot of these tips don’t just protect your home. Most of them will either protect

your life or your property somehow, as well.

First off, smoke alarms are a must. They’re not expensive,

and installing new ones in an older home can help

decrease your yearly insurance premiums by quite a bit—

as much as ten percent. Many companies won’t specifically

tell you to get a carbon monoxide detector in addition to

your smoke detectors, but that can usually help your

bottom line, too.

Security systems that are centrally monitored are another

good way to cut down on your expenditure for insurance. All you usually need is a bill or something as

proof that your alarm system is currently maintained, and you can get sometimes five percent or more

discounted.

Higher deductible plans A lot of people swear by high-deductible plans. And it’s true that a lot of minor issues like damaged

sheetrock, leaky pipes or other things are easily fixed and generally cost less than a couple hundred

dollars. If that’s all you’re worried about, then you’re fine. But if you’re concerned about the location of

your home—whether you’re worried about things like earthquakes, landslides, floods or wildfires—this

might not be the best route to take. Sure, you’ll pay less each month. But if something disastrous

happens, you might just be wishing you had a low deductible.

Combine policies A lot of companies offer many types of insurance: car, life, medical and homeowner insurance. If a

company is willing to cut down one or all of your monthly insurance payments to get your business, it’s

probably a good idea (financially) to take a closer look.

Plan any construction now This mainly has to do with what you will build any additions out of. Cement- or steel-framed structures

don’t cost as much to insure because they are less likely to be affected by bad conditions, but they’re

more expensive to begin with. On the other hand, wood is cheap even though it will cost more to insure.

The choice is yours, but go into that choice with your

eyes open.

Pay it off This can be a key piece of advice, even while we are

limiting our focus to insurance. The logic behind this

point is solid: your rates will drop once you own your

home outright. Generally, if a person owns their home,

they take better care of it, and so it costs less to insure.

Never stop looking around Although you might be comfortable with your policy and feel it’s the cheapest one out there, it might

not always be. Maybe it’s cheap now, but something better might come along in a year. Once you buy

an insurance policy, don’t grow complacent. Your rates will probably go up and down, or something

better will come along. Each year, take a look around at your options and make sure what you have is

still what you want.

While these points aren’t valid only for this year, now is the best time to make sure you’re on the right

track with your homeowners insurance in Palm Desert. Whether you’re looking to buy or switch your

home insurance in Palm Desert, these six points will help ensure you get the best deal on the coverage

that fits you.

Photo Credit: cancsajn, ColinBroug