A lot of people keep their home insurance policies in order to claim some of the repairs that need to be made on their homes. But is that really what homeowners insurance is for? If you are deciding whether or not to file a claim for that broken window, missing piece of jewelry or the repairs for replacing the ten shingles that blew off in the last storm, here are some things to think about.



A lot of times if you file a claim on your home insurance policy, your rates are going to go up. So how do you know whether or not it is even worth it to pay the deductible and file a claim over something small?

The answer to this question really is to ask yourself another question. The question that you are going to ask yourself is whether or not you want homeowners insurance to pay for major things, or whether you want your home insurance to be there for you regardless of the cost of continuing this insurance?

One way to find out the answer to this second question is to look at your deductible. For a lot of cheap home insurance policies, you are going to have a deductible somewhere between $500 and $1000. Replacing the glass in a broken window is only going to cost you a fraction of that deductible, and even if you break all the windows in your house, it may just be simpler to pay out of your pocket. A cheap home insurance policy is going to ensure that you get protection for your house if something catastrophic happens, not if something minor happens. By putting too many claims in, you risk your policy rates going up, or even worse, being canceled.

If something does happen, you shouldn't be afraid to put a claim into your home insurance company. After all, that is what they are there for. The first step is to take a look at your policy and see what your time limits for filing a claim are. Usually, if you pay your entire home insurance premium on an annual basis, you are going to find that you have a whole year to file a claim. If that is the case, you are pretty lucky because it is going to be easy to determine whether or not to file a claim. The reason is that you are going to save all of your receipts for the broken windows, leaky roof and other problems that you might have claimed individually and add up the costs of them at the end of the year. A lot of times, you may be only getting back $100 after paying the deductible, but in return for filing a claim, your premium is going to go up $72 a year. If that is the case, you may just want to not file the claim.

Finally, one tip is to become friends with your home insurance agent. This agent is going to be able to give you advice on whether or not to file a claim. If you are good friends with him or her, you are going to be able to know what to do in these situations. Don't forget that for a lot of people, the whole reason for home insurance is to make sure that everything is insured if there is a major problem, not for the minor day to day accidents.