1. Increase your voluntary excess



Your insurance excess is the amount of money you will pay towards a claim before the insurer pays the remainder. For example, if you had a 200 pound excess and a 500 pound claim you would pay 200 pounds and the insurer would pay ?300. If you choose to pay a higher excess, you will pay a lower premium. You can make substantial savings by doing this. When you are comparing policies, try changing the excess amount and see how much you can save.

2. Fit smoke alarms

Fire alarms are pretty cheap, especially when compared to the cost of a home or the loss of a life. Most home fires are caused by smoking or cooking. Don't leave matches or lighters laying around, never leave your cooking unattended and don't smoke cigarettes in bed. Be aware if you have young children that they love to play with all things new and exciting. They may turn the cooker on, light paper or cover lamps. All of these things can cause a fire in your home.

3. Install new locks

If you have just moved into a new home, you never know who may still have a key. The cost of changing your locks is much less than having all of your worldly possessions stolen from under your nose. Ensure you install good quality locks - preferably 5-lever mortise locks.

4. Have security lighting installed

Burglars like to work in the cover of darkness and do not like to be in the spotlight. Use movement sensors with your lighting to surprise uninvited visitors and keep them at bay. A blast of light will also raise attention with neighbours or yourself in the middle of the night.

5. Install time switches on internal lights

Your home is most at risk to burgulary when you are not there. Lights that are switched on at a particular time will give outsiders the impression that you are in the house when you are not. You can stagger the times lights are switched on and off in different rooms make it appear like you are moving about your home.

6. Have an alarm system installed

Ask your insurer if they have a preferred provider of home alarm systems. By having a professionally installed alarm system can often cut premiums by over 5 percent. That is a big saving, plus it will give you peace of mind that your home is safe.

7. Don't leave your keys under the mat

This will be the 1st place a burglar will look. If you want to hide your keys, put a little thought into somewhere a burglar would never think of looking. Also don't leave your keys on a hook near the front door where a burglar may be able to hook the keys with a wire through the front letter box.

8. Insulate your external pipes

Pipes can easily freeze in the great British weather. By lagging (wrapping insulation around the pipe) your external pipes will help to reduce the chance of them freezing. If pipes do freeze you can often get leaks in cracked pipes or burn out pump motors as the water will not travel through the pipe.

9. Regularly check you house and property for subsidence.

Subsidence is usually covered by your buildings insurance. It is important to detect movement as soon as possible to minimise the damage to you home. Look for cracks in walls and unevenness in walls and floors.

10. Only claim if you have to

The less number of claims you make, the higher your no claims discount will be. If a minor incident occurs, consider carefully before claiming the item on your insurance. If you do submit a claim and loose your no claims discount, is this going to cost you more in the long run?

In order to save money on your insurance you need to compare insurance providers. Ideally you should be checking insurance deals at least once a year to make sure you are always getting the best price.