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August 3rd, 2019 | Buyers

Real Estate In A Nutshell: How to Shop for Homeowners Insurance

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Have you bought a home or are in the process, but not sure what happens after you sign on the dotted line?

You’re not the first one! We are here to teach you about what comes next, so you can handle the aftermath like a pro!

Last week, we discussed how to set up utilities, which ones you have to set up and how to avoid paying a security deposit. If you missed this post, no worries, just click, Utilities. Now, get ready to learn how to shop for homeowners insurance.

Shopping can be fun and relaxing—unless it’s for insurance, particularly, homeowners insurance. Most people cringe at the thought of sitting down and trying to decide which coverage works best for them and their family. Let’s face it; looking around for homeowners insurance is the last thing you want to do. However, we have some quick information to consider when deciding on your insurance, and what would best narrow your choices.

 

Credit Score 

Yes, that awful thing. Believe it or not, insurance companies will look at your credit score as a prediction of any losses they “may” acquire with you. Keeping track of your expenses and your due dates will help you greatly in getting accepted by the insurance company you want and allow you to pick and choose the company you want to use. Use credit score websites like equifax.ca to check out your score and see if it matches up with your own statements.

 

Background Check

It’s always good to get a full check of the house you are about to purchase before buying. This will save you a lot of hassle from trying to find the right insurance for your home. Ask your agent or the company you’re going through, for the history report of the house. Look for any damages or claims made in the past.

 

Pick and Choose

When you have your house and your insurance, don’t make every claim you can think of. This can harm you in renewing your policy.  Even though it would be nice to make a claim for that broken sink, it would be a lot worse if you ran out of room to use your insurance for the big things—like fire or burglary.

 

Track Record

If you already have renter’s insurance or car insurance, start by getting a quote from that company. This way you have history with a particular place and if you have more then 1 insurance policy with the same broker, they will usually provide you with a discount on all your policies.

 

All In The Details

When getting a quote from an insurance company, make sure you have as much details about the home as you possibly can. A good place to start obtaining this information is from your Realtor as well as a home inspection report. Insurance companies will want to know how old the roof is, type of plumbing, type of heating, how old the home is, is the electrical up to date,  etc. The more information you have, the more accurate the quote you’ll receive, the easier the decision.

 

Home Verified 

Home Verified will help show you the history of the house you’re thinking of buying or already bought. The report gives you details on any insurance claims that were made, when the claims occurred, how much the claim was, if the home was ever a grow op or meth lab, local schools and amenity information. You’ll want to check this out before purchasing a house although you do need the current home owners consent to run the report. The cost of this is $69.95 for non members and $49.95 for members. In my opinion it’s totally worth every penny! This goes back up to the “background check”— seeing what the house was like in its past to get an idea of how stable the home is.

Once you’ve gone through these, you should feel a little better when looking for homeowner’s insurance. It may be tricky, but it’s not the end of the world. Ask your neighbours, your friends, your colleagues — even look up insurers on the internet—have a solid group of pickings first, then go from there.

Would you pay for a report to get a home’s history before buying it?

That’s about it from us, and that’s all you need to know about homeowner’s insurance. Make sure to come back here next time when we are going to be talking about the importance of getting a Home Inspection.

And of course if you have any questions, make sure to ask them in the comment section below!

We’ll see you back here next week.

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