Like the name suggests, home insurance, protects your house from both man-made and natural disasters. Be it burglary, fire, earthquake or flood, your policy covers your loss, and insures your house. By the end of this article, “Insure Home” is one thing you will definitely add to your check list.

We always want to cut on cost, be it buying shoes on sale, or getting best deals on your favorite book from Amazon! Here are a few ways to save a few bucks and insure your Home.

• Make your home more secure

While calculating your rate, insurance companies look at your home’s resistance to threats like burglary, fires and storms. You can limit risk and potentially qualify for cheaper rates by upgrading outdated systems like plumbing and electrical and by adding features that make your house tougher to beat. We are talking about storm shutters, impact-resistant roofing and deadbolt door, alarm systems, electric fences and window locks.

Certain home improvements won’t be cheap. Check with your insurer in advance to know how much a given discount will save, so you can make sure your spending isn’t out of proportion to the savings. The key is to stay up to date with the systems to save on insuring the house.

• Raise your deductible

Your deductible is the amount insurers subtract from a claim settlement for property damage. Increasing this amount may trigger a rate reduction. Raising your deductible means you will have to take up more of the financial burden in a covered loss. This isn’t a decision to make at the drop of a hat. But if you have enough funds tucked away for emergencies, you might want to take that risk for lower rates.

• Improve your credit history

In many places, companies are permitted to use credit-based records to help predict the likelihood of future claims, and those with poor credit may face higher rates. If you fall into this camp and have poor credit, take steps to shore up your credit, such as paying your bills promptly, paying off card balances that are nearing their limit, or simply reading your credit reports promptly and fixing any errors.

As we live in a competitive world, make sure you get good credit as well (And I thought I would not have to deal having high credits ever after university).

• Reassess your belongings and personal property coverage

It’s wise to periodically examine how much stuff you have and how much it’s worth, to see whether your coverage still lines up. If you recently sold valuable antiques or jewellery, you could cancel any high-limit insurance, called scheduled property endorsements that you took out for such expensive items.

• Don’t under-insure

Insufficient coverage takes money from your pocket, and almost one in 10 who insure their house find themselves in that boat. Every few years, ask your insurer for a customized estimate of your home’s replacement cost. To protect against the surge in the price of materials and labour that can follow a natural disaster.