Six Smart Ways to Save Money on Home and Auto Insurance
If reducing your spending is a priority for 2019, you should take a close look at your home and car insurance. There is a good chance that you will pay too much for insurance.
Reducing your insurance premium is a relatively painless process. Here are six ways to save on home and car insurance in 2019.
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1. Compare shopping
Don't choose an insurance carrier because you like their ads or you already have a policy with them. Comparison shopping helps you find the right insurance for the best price. While it takes time to compare policies, insurance brokers like Policygenius make it easy to plug in a few details about your needs and compare options.
"A single carrier to consider for all your needs would be the same as going to the same restaurant for all your meals. Sure, they can feed you and probably even have a few dishes that make them particularly good, but if you don't look at your alternatives, you can't really appreciate how they compare," said Fabio Faschi, head of the property and accident team at Policygenius.
2. Bundling
Most insurers offer many types of insurance, including home, car, tenants and more. If you bundle your home and car insurance with the same carrier, you'll save 20 to 30% off your rewards. It is also more convenient and can help you access policies that would otherwise not be available.
Bundling doesn't always save you money, says Faschi, but it's a good idea to consider your home and car insurance at the same time. "You shouldn't assume that bundling will always be your best option in the modern insurance market, but you should always be careful to buy your home and car at the same time, because an experienced broker can find it much better to appeal to both assets at the same time."
Do you want to know the advantages and disadvantages of bundling? Check out this guide.
3. Repurchasing your old policies
It's easy to stop and forget your insurance, but your policies can quickly become outdated, overpriced, or insufficient to meet your needs. It is worth reassessing your existing insurance on a consistent basis.
"No one realizes that their policies are outdated until I show them exactly how much they have overpaid for their current reporting. Insurance rates almost always increase from year to year as a built-in protection for the customer," says Faschi. "However, it is quite common for this standard annual increase to go out of service after a few years and begins to do more harm to the customer than to help them. That's why it's so important to re-evaluate your rates and coverage as often as possible."
4. Increase your deductible
In the case of a claim, your deductible is the amount you pay out of your pocket before the insurance enters to cover the rest. You can increase your deductible for a lower premium, but you pay more out of pocket if you end up using your insurance. Make sure you can afford the higher deductible before you go down this path. (When deciding what to deduct your car insurance, follow these rules.)
5. Looking for discounts
Home and car insurers often offer discounts to customers who meet certain criteria. You can check with your insurance institution which discounts you qualify for. General discounts include:
Membership discounts: Employers, professional associations and other member-based groups sometimes offer discounted policies through partner insurance. You can ask your insurance institution for a list of available group discounts.
Good driver discounts: Some car insurers lower your premium if you go a certain time without an accident or relocation injury.
First-time buyers: Many home insurers offer discounts to new homeowners.
6. Payment of your premium annually
The annual payment of your insurance premium helps the insurance institution to have money at hand and to reduce administrative costs. In return, your carrier can offer a discounted price for annual payments, not monthly payments. If you pay on an annual basis, you save between 2% and 8% off your premium.
this article is adapted from here