Do you know the tricky thing about discounts? Quite often you won’t get any until you ask. When shopping online, you can miss out on discounts by not looking up manufacturer coupons before placing your order. And when purchasing home insurance, you can lose potential savings by not working with a Maryland insurance agent who knows the details of the policy.
Insurance companies offer discounts to people who are at a lower risk of filing a claim. This risk can be lowered due to some home improvements you’ve completed or based on the location of your property. Here are some of the discounts and credits, some hidden and some obvious, you could score to lower your homeowners’ insurance premium.
Safe Neighborhood
Homes in gated communities and other residential developments managed by Homeowners’ Associations tend to be less prone to theft and vandalism. If you purchased a home in a gated community, the homeowners’ insurance discount may help offset some of the dues. Another location factor that may affect your insurance premiums is proximity to the nearest fire department and general accessibility of your home.
Home Improvements
Insurance companies like when homeowners take proactive steps to make their homes better and safer. Certain home improvement projects, even if you complete them just to improve function or design, may result in significant home insurance savings:
- New wiring
- Impact-resistant roofing
- New pipes
- Full house renovation
Mature Insured Credit
Some insurance companies offer discounts to retired seniors (55 and older) based on the premise that retired people spend more time at home. Why does this matter? When you are at home most of the time, you can promptly react if anything goes wrong, thus mitigating the damage. For example, you would smell a gas leak or hear water gushing out of the broken pipe. Mature insured credit can typically bring anywhere between 5% and 25% savings on your base premium.
Loss-Prevention and Safety Devices
Each home has to have a minimal number of safety devices in order to meet the building codes. However, if you upgrade these devices or add additional, high-tech ones, you may qualify for some extra savings. Here are some of the devices that may qualify you for a homeowners’ insurance discount:
- Water and gas leak detectors
- Home security systems
- Whole-house “smart home” automation systems
- Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors
- Heat detectors and sprinkler systems
- Dead-bolt locks
Policyholder Discounts
Some insurance companies reward their customers who have not filed claims at all or in the past 5-10 years. If it sounds like you, then it doesn’t hurt to talk to your Maryland insurance agent about possible discounts. You may also expect additional savings by using the same insurance company for multiple policies, such as car, RV, motorcycle and home.
Nonsmoker Credit
Although most insurance providers are slowly phasing out this discount, your company may still offer a small discount to nonsmoking households. It’s not much, usually not more than $50 a year, but if it’s available and if you qualify, why not use it?
If you haven’t reviewed your policy with your Maryland home insurance agent in a long time, do it as soon as you can. It’s possible that your changed circumstances or the improvements you’ve made to your home now qualify you for some additional discounts you couldn’t use before.
Give us a call or contact online today and let’s see how we can help you save hundreds on your home insurance!
