Where You Live Affects Your Home Insurance Quotes

Home insurance quotes are formulated based upon many risk factors. Even if you live in a nice, quiet neighborhood, your homeowner's insurance might equal someone who lives in a neighborhood with a higher crime rate. Why? We'll give you some of the reasons home insurance quotes can vary wildly. While it is possible to make adjustments for many of the factors, others are simply out of your hands. You can't control the weather, after all. Weather Florida and Texas have the highest home insurance rates in the country, due to the fact that both states have some of the most extreme and violent weather conditions in the nation. Florida residents might not even have the option of non-state sponsored insurance coverage; private insurance companies are flat-out leaving the state. If you live in a state that is known for having yearly tornadoes or tropical storms, you need to do everything you can to make sure that your home is as secure as possible. This means storm shudders, cement barriers, roof stabilizers and periodic checks of the soundness of roofing shingles and tiles. Environmental factors are also weather-related factors that influence insurance rates. Neighborhoods that are at risk for wildfires after long and dry summer seasons are a high risk for insurance companies, not only because of the fire damage, but the mudslides that often occur during the rainy season after the fires. Even if your home is located more than five miles from the nearest fire department, you might see your rates rise. If your home is far from a fire hydrant, you may likewise pay higher premiums than your neighbors who are right next to one. Zip code Like car insurance, if you live in a zip code that has a high number of insurance claims, your premiums will be higher based upon the insurance actuaries' risk calculator. Unfortunately, no insurance company is going to disclose the number of claims that are typically filed within a specific neighborhood. If you are looking to buy a home in a particular neighborhood, however, your real estate agent should give you an idea of what to expect. Crime If your neighborhood has a high crime rate, expect the insurance rates to be high, as well. Fortunately, if you have a state-of-the-art alarm system installed, you can actually reduce your home insurance quote by as much as 10 percent. The two most important things you can do to make sure your home insurance rates are as low as practicable, is to shop around (not every insurance company has the same record for numbers of filed claims per neighborhood) and secure your home as best you can from the dangers of fire, flood, burglary and extreme weather conditions. All of the home security measures might seem costly in the beginning, but the price will ultimately be mitigated by the insurance savings.