The process of providing the necessary underwriting information to the insurance companies may be the most difficult and time consuming aspect of the homeowner’s insurance process; however, the most important part of choosing the right policy is comparing the quotes.
Selecting homeowners insurance based on price is not the best way to choose the right policy to adequately insure the home. There are several things homeowners should compare when it comes to selecting the right homeowner’s insurance policy.
Insurance Company Financial Stability
An insurance company’s financial stability is something that should have been taken into consideration prior to obtaining insurance quotes. However, if it wasn’t a factor in obtaining quotes, now is the time to rule out any insurance company that is not financially stable. To find out a homeowners insurance company’s financial stability ask the underwriter or agent to provide the insurance company’s AM Best, Moody’s or Standard and Poor’s rating.
The company’s financial stability must be taken into consideration when looking at the bottom line premium. There should be an inverse relationship between the company’s financial stability and premium charged. A financially unstable company should not charge the same premium for the identical coverages as a financially sound insurance company.
Insurance Underwriter/Agent Accessibility
Depending on how comfortable the homeowner is with purchasing insurance, there may be a need for frequent contact with the insurance underwriter or the agent. When comparing homeowner insurance policies it is important to view the entire package. Policyholders should find out if questions will be answered by a dedicated insurance agent or will calls be forwarded to a call center to be answered by the next available representative.
While a call center may work fine for individuals with a little more experience with homeowners insurance, new insured may want a little more handholding from a dedicated agent assigned to her account.
Homeowner Insurance Claims Procedure
With the internet being a preferred method of communication for many insured’s, review each homeowner insurance quote to see if they offer online claims reporting. While reporting online claims may not be important to some, it has grown in popularity and should be considered when comparing quotes.
Comparing Insurance Terms
The most obvious aspects to consider when comparing homeowner insurance quotes is to review the policy limits, terms, conditions, coinsurance and deductibles. Make sure to compare them on an apples-to-apples basis. If one homeowner’s insurance policy quote includes additional coverages, ask all companies involved to provide the same coverage and amend their premium quotes accordingly.
Finally, review the premiums charged by each company. Although premium is a very important aspect when choosing a homeowners insurance policy, it should not be the sole determining factor.
