For most homeowners in Florida their home represents their biggest investment and their most valuable and prized asset. Therefore it's only natural that they would want to do everything possible to protect their investment. One way to protect your home and its contents is to purchase homeowner's insurance.



Even though everyone wants to protect their home in case of a disaster, everyone still wants to get the best rates on homeowner's insurance in Florida that they possibly can.

The good news is there are several simple steps you can take that can help to reduce the cost of your homeowner's policy.

Let start by reviewing how much insurance you need. You need enough insurance to rebuild your home from the foundation up and to replace the contents of your home. In other words, after a disaster you need enough money to put things back the way they were.

The one thing you do not want to pay for is homeowner's insurance on the value of the land underneath your home. Your land doesn't need to be insured.

Keep in mind that here in Florida most homeowner's policies have a wind exclusion and no standard homeowner's policy covers your home in case of flooding. You need to speak with your agent about ways to get insurance for wind and flood.

If your home is more than 10 years old ask your agent how much of a savings you would realize each month if you upgraded the plumbing and the electrical systems. Often the savings can really add up over the course of a year.

Make sure all brush and weeds are cleared at least ten feet away from any structure on your property. This reduces the risk of fire and could result in a monthly savings.

Make certain that every exterior door has a working deadbolt and that every window, regardless of what floor it is on, has a working lock. Let your agent know about any upgrades or improvements that you make to your home or your property. Even new landscaping, fixing cracked or broken walkways or replacing loose floorboards or hand railings on porches or decks can reduce your monthly homeowner's insurance premium.

Adding motion-sensitive outdoor floodlighting can also reduce your monthly premium as can trimming back bushes away from windows (making it more difficult for burglars to ply their trade).

Inside your home make certain that you have installed the proper number of smoke and fire detectors for the size and layout of your home and make sure they all have fresh batteries at least twice each year. Many people make a habit of replacing the batteries in their smoke and fire detectors every time they switch their clocks forward or backward an hour.

Buy a kitchen-rated fire extinguisher for your kitchen and mount it in a convenient place.

Keep your credit rating clean. Believe it or not, your credit rating affects how much you pay for your homeowner's insurance. The higher your credit score the lower your monthly homeowner's insurance premium.

If you have multiple insurance policies, such as auto and health with the same insurance company you should qualify for a special Multi-Policy Discount.

If you've been with the same insurance company for at least 5 years talk to your agent about a Long-Term Policy Discount on your Homeowner's insurance.

If you can afford to install a home security system that monitors your home 24/7 for fire and burglary you could save a considerable amount on your insurance premium each month, but be sure to consult your agent before purchasing any such system as some systems qualify for a much larger discount than other systems.

If anyone in your household is 55 or older and retired you could be due another discount on your premium.

How long has it been since you reviewed your deductible? If you can afford to increase your deductible then you can save a good deal each year on your premium payments.

O.K., that should be enough for you to put together a homeowner's policy that saves you money month after month, year after year. All that's left now is to get online and find at least 3 different websites that allow you to compare the cost of your super-policy between different insurance companies and you'll be all set.

Take the extra time to make your comparisons on at least 3 different websites so you can be certain that you are seeing the prices of all the different insurance companies here in Florida. Once you've done that then you can rest easy at night in the knowledge that you have gotten the very best rates on homeowner's insurance here in Florida.