Why would so many West Virginia homeowners elect to pay for homeowner's insurance? Because for most West Virginia families their home represents their largest asset and they want to do whatever they can to protect and preserve that asset.

Even so, no one wants to pay more for their homeowner's insurance than they have to - and after reading this article you should have several ideas for how you can reduce the monthly cost of your homeowner's insurance.

Start by making your house as burglar-proof as possible. Trim all bushes away from windows so burglars will have no place to hide. Install motion-sensitive floodlights so burglars will be exposed. Make sure that all exterior doors have a working deadbolt lock and make sure that all windows - even upper floor windows - have locks to make the burglar's job as difficult as possible.

Once your home has been made less appealing to burglars then it's time to make your property safer for guests. Start by filling in all potholes and replacing any cracked or buckled concrete to prevent accidents and lawsuits. Along those same lines replace any lose or rotting floorboards in porches or decks and secure all deck and porch railings.

You can further discourage burglaries and protect your home and your family from fire and carbon monoxide poisoning by installing a 24/7 home protection system. Talk to your agent before making a final choice in systems as some systems can reduce your monthly insurance payment by 20% or more.

If you have a home-based business ask your tax advisor if all or a portion of the cost of your home protection service could be deducted from your taxes. If you can get a tax break on top of a monthly insurance savings your system can be practically free.

Keep your credit score in top-notch condition. Believe it or not your monthly homeowner's insurance premium is partly based on your credit score, so use credit cards wisely.

Can you pay your premiums yearly rather than monthly? If not, can you pay your monthly premium automatically out of your checking account? If so you could save money over the course of a year.

Have you installed the proper number of smoke and fire detectors for your size and layout of home? Do they all have fresh batteries? Detectors need to have fresh batteries twice yearly.

Buy a kitchen-style fire extinguisher and mount it where it can be quickly grabbed.

Don't make small claims against your company. The longer you go without filing a claim the less your premiums will be.

If you can consolidate all of your different insurance policies with the same insurance company you will get a Multi-Policy Discount on each of them - including your homeowner's policy.

Increase your deductible if possible. Increasing your deductible will lower your monthly payments almost instantly, but keep in mind that you will have to pay your deductible in cash should you ever have a claim so don't offer to pay more than you are prepared to fork out.

Buy your policy online. You can almost always save money by buying your homeowner's policy online - however, don't fall into the trap of thinking that you only have to look at one price comparison website in order to guarantee that you are getting the best deal.

Instead find 3 different homeowner's insurance comparison websites and fill out the form on each site, being very careful to fill out each form exactly the same so that you are comparing the same policy on all three sites.

Now review all of your results and pick the lowest-priced policy from among those companies that you feel confident will still be around in 30 years - and your job is done! Now you know just how easy it is for you to save money and get discount homeowner's insurance in West Virginia.