When it comes to home insurance, picking a good home insurance provider is vital. You’re depending on your home insurance provider to be there for you during what may end up being some of the most difficult times of your life, and you want to be sure that you can trust that company both financially and personally. Instead of relying on mere price checks when you’re choosing a home insurance provider, use these tips to find a provider who will really protect you well.
Home Insurance
Financial Protection
The main reason people buy insurance is so that they’re protected financially. Health insurance protects you from spending thousands of dollars on emergency medical services; car insurance protects you from having to pay to replace your car after an accident, and homeowners insurance protects you from having to replace your home if you lose some or all of it to a fire, a flood, or a burglary.
So, you need to be sure that your insurance company is capable of protecting you financially. One part of this is being sure that you aren’t being raked over the coals with a very high premium. Shop around with several home insurance companies before you decide which one to go with; you may be quite shocked in the disparity of prices for even the most basic home insurance policies.
Secondly, you need to make sure that your home insurance provider is financially secure enough to provide cash to back up your claim. It actually happens sometimes with unstable companies that people’s claims are never paid because the insurance company is drowning in debt and is getting ready to go out of business. So that this doesn’t happen to your family, check the credit ratings of the insurance companies at which you’re looking. You can actually check these ratings through third-party companies like A.M. Best and Standard and Poor’s, which look at a company’s entire financial background and portfolio to give it a rating on financial stability.
Personal Protection
Even if a company has plenty of funds to pay your claim when a fire starts in your kitchen, some it may fight you tooth and nail to find a way to not pay that claim. You really don’t want to be with a company like this; while all insurance companies are in the business to make money, some actually realize they’ll make more money by making happy customers, and they’ll put your needs first.
To find a company like this, check around online and talk to friends and family members in your area. You can find ratings for insurance companies through third-party companies like J.D. Power and Associates, and you can also get customer reviews from hundreds of websites. Ask friends and family members who have had to make home insurance claims what they think of their home insurance provider.
Home Insurance
While it can be difficult to get objective information from personal accounts, you can use a variety of reviews to figure out which companies are known for treating their clients well and which companies had best be avoided because they’d rather go to court than pay a claim. Knowing that your home insurance provider is both financially secure and competent will help you make the best decision about home insurance.
