Surprising Factors That Affect Your Home Insurance Rates

Out of the all the begrudging expenses that you must incur as a homeowner – home insurance is usually the most frustrating. One of the biggest reasons why it is so frustrating is because you can never seem to nail down a rate that makes any sense. You may call one company and get a quote that is completely different from another agency’s quote. It can really make your head spin. However – unbeknownst to you – your insurance company may be calculating your rates according to some very strange metrics. All insurance companies evaluate risk, but when it comes to homeowner’s insurance, risk is measured in some pretty surprising ways. Here are some surprising factors that affect your home insurance rates.

1. Distance to a fire hydrant. Cities and suburbs are usually required to have one or two hydrants per block. In the instance of a fire, a block still gives a fire truck enough room to hook up the hoses and put out a fire. In the case of your homeowners insurance, though, if you live too far away from a hydrant, your premiums could be higher. So, you may want to take this into consideration when speaking with your insurance company.
2. Vulnerability to natural disasters. If you read or watch the news, you’ll probably notice a rising occurrence of natural disasters – mudslides, earthquakes, sink holes, floods and even droughts. You may not realize it, but a drought can be a long and slow natural disaster that can really take its toll on your property – eventually the foundation can dry up and crumble, which be quite expensive to repair. So, you may want to find out if it would be more affordable to get a separate policy for specific natural disaster coverage – like flood or earthquake coverage.
3. Proximity to a high crime area. Even if you have moved to the suburbs, you can still be affected by the crime in a city. This is especially the case if you live rather close to the nearest city. So, you may want to ask an insurance company, like the Pronto Insurance franchise, what you can do to better protect your home and save on your monthly insurance premiums.
4. A trampoline in your backyard. Yes, this is a silly one, but it’s true – a trampoline in your backyard can raise your insurance premiums. Trampolines can be dangerous, especially if you have young children. Statistically speaking, a lot of injuries occur on trampolines. So, you may want to equip your trampoline with extra padding and netting to make it safer. You can then show proof of the safety measures you have taken.
5. Your dog. Indeed, millions of dollars are shelled out each year to unfortunate mailmen and women that happen to walk into the wrong yard at the wrong time. Dogs that are weary of strangers can be huge liabilities. For this reason, you may want to think of sending your dog to a special training school if you want to save on your homeowner’s insurance.