They do this because they are aware of the fact that their house is a very valuable investment that they must protect by all means.

However, everybody would still be joyous if they are to find a means to take care of this most valuable investment without the usual high cost involved.

Good a thing, this article presents practical ways to reduce your home insurance rates...

1. Do NOT insure your house along with the land it is built on as this is more expensive but needless. People do this ignorantly. Insuring your home for the purchased price without deducting the value of the land it stands on is a very costly mistake.

If you did this, quickly call your agent and re-evaluate your coverage. Subtract the price of the land and you will realize that you will need far less coverage.

This implies that you'll pay far less on home insurance. No matter what you do and who you meet, bear it in mind that the only things you insure are things that can be stolen or destroyed and your land is not one of such.

2. The amount you pay is affected by your credit rating. The poorer your credit rating, the higher the premiums you will pay. If your credit rating is poor then you've been missing important payments.

An insurer takes this to mean that you're not financially very responsible and will possibly default in paying your premiums. If you are considered a regular defaulter, it makes you a bigger risk and draws much higher rates than otherwise.

So do your utmost to pay all your bills in a regular manner. You'll attract cheaper rates if you do.

3. You will pay more affordable rates if you elect to pay your rates annually and not every month. This is because sending you twelve bills by mail monthly costs your insurer a lot.

The cost shoots up if you include the fact that they pay transaction charges for processing each check you give them monthly.

12 checks mean 12 transactions and will draw 12 different charges. These and other costs incurred by your insurance company are ultimately passed over to you, the policy holder.

Therefore, you'll get lower rates if you decide to pay your rates annually. The actual amount you could save may differ but you may be able to save up to a month's rate worth with some insurers if you choose this option.

4. Make the exterior of your home fire-safe and you will lower your home insurance premium. Do you have things that could easily aid combustion close to your structure? They'll make you pay more.

Bushes around your home should be cut and maintained at not less than ten feet from your structure. Fire-safety is a strong point that is used to calculate how much or little you your rate will be.

5. You'll also get a discount if you have motion-sensitive lighting for your home's exterior. Your home becomes less attractive to thieves because they'll be spotted easily.

Your rate will be lower because you'd have lowered your home's risk of burglary with such lighting.

6. Make sure every door to the exterior has dead-bolt locks. It's harder for burglars to break into homes that have such locks.

And since a home's risk of burglary is a key determinant of home insurance premiums, you'll spend far less.

7. Window locks on all windows will save you a little since they reduce your home's risk of burglary. You will save even a lot more if you go further to have burglary-proof bars fixed on all of them.

Even though most people do not like this because it makes them feel like a prisoner in their own house, it really does lower your premium by a good amount. Therefore, if you don't mind having burglary-proof bars in your home, have them fixed and you'll be billed much less for home insurance.

8. Installing advanced security and fire systems that are monitored 24/7 is a wise move. Apart from the peace of mind you will have in knowing your house is watched regularly by competent personnel, you'll get more affordable home insurance premiums.

Notwithstanding that the discount this will attract will vary from one insurance company to another, you can expect to reduce your home insurance premium by as much as 25%.

9. Smoke and fire detectors will go a long way in lowering your home's fire risk. Install the right numbers of smoke and fire detectors for your size and kind of home if you want more affordable premiums.

These make it a lot easier for fires to be spotted early and put out before they can do any real damage. I hope you know that the risk of fire is one of the strong factors used to determine how high or low your rate will be.