Investing in your home is often a smart decision. But with the cost of Florida home insurance, you may want to prioritize home renovations that could also potentially save you money on your homeowners insurance. Consider making improvements which lessen the effects of the most common perils Florida homes face, including wind, tropical storms and hurricanes, and fire.
How could home improvements lower your insurance premiums in Florida? Some improvements may result in a discount from your home insurance company. But several types of home improvements don’t necessarily result in a “discount”—rather, they make your home more insurable. That is, more homeowners insurance companies are willing to insure your home, which often does result in lower homeowners insurance premiums.
Three home improvements that may lower home insurance costs
- Roof replacement. Replacing a roof is an expensive renovation, and not something you’d do just to save money on your home insurance. However, the age and condition of your roof will affect your home insurance premiums and definitely will limit the number of homeowners insurance companies willing to insure your home. If you replace your roof, provide your agent with a wind mitigation report and discuss with him or her any credits that you may qualify for if you make certain additional changes that harden your roof against hurricane damage.
- Upgrading electrical wiring. Upgrading wiring lowers the risk of fires and electrical damage. If your home is older, especially if it has knob-and-tube, aluminum, or cloth-wrapped wiring, updating it may result in lower insurance premiums. If you have one of those types of wiring, very few homeowners insurance companies will be willing to write you a policy, and with limited choices, you almost always pay more for your home insurance.
- Upgrading plumbing. Upgrading plumbing lowers the risk of incurring water damage. Water damage is one of the most common and expensive claims—and if it’s due to a failure to maintain your home rather than being “sudden and accidental,” it may not be covered by your homeowners insurance. Many home insurance companies won’t offer a policy if your home has certain types of plumbing, such as cast iron, galvanized pipe, or polybutylene piping.
Every home improvement won’t result in lower premiums, but when you make your home safer and limit the number and severity of homeowners insurance claims, everyone wins.
If you’re considering a significant home improvement or renovation, consult your insurance company or insurance agent to see what impact it will have on your homeowners insurance. For instance, we are seeing a lot of customers adding solar panels to their roofs to save money on their electric bills. Unfortunately, this can seriously impact your insurance, because some companies won’t take solar at all.
L & M Insurance Group—your source for homeowners insurance
When it’s time for you to buy or renew your home insurance, please consider independent insurance agency L & M Insurance Group, located in Riverview. We not only have decades of experience helping clients, we live in the same community and face the same challenges that you do. Please call (813) 672-4100 if you’d like to know more about our services, or contact us online.
