10 Ways that You Can Save Money on Your Renter's Insurance Policy

Renter's insurance is not typically a high dollar bill to begin with and in many cases you can save even more on a renter's insurance policy just by making a few minor changes, shopping around and following these tips! Combined, you can save money on your renter's insurance making the entire experience even more beneficial to you!

Cheap Renter's Insurance Policy Tip #1: Combine your policy with another policy to get the cheapest rates. Just like combining your vehicles onto one insurance policy will usually get you a better rate, so will getting renter's insurance and car insurance from the same agent.

Cheap Renter's Insurance Policy Tip #2: Make sure all rooms in your home have smoke alarms. Not only are smoke alarms a good thing to have to keep you safe in the event that a fire is in the home they also will help you save money on your renter's insurance. Another option is to install sprinkler systems into the home or apartment so that they will come on if there is a fire in the home. Both will safeguard you and help to lower your renter's insurance rates.

Cheap Renter's Insurance Policy Tip #3: Keep claims at a minimum and do not file unnecessary claims against your current renter's insurance policy. Many insurance companies will charge you higher rates even if you file one claim so it's best not to make a claim against the policy unless the claim amount is significantly higher than your policy rate.

Cheap Renter's Insurance Policy Tip #4: Don't smoke! If you do smoke, never ever smoke in the house. Not only is smoking in the home a danger to you and the people in your home, it also causes your renter's insurance rates to be higher because there are so many house fires each year that are due to irresponsible smoking in the home!

Cheap Renter's Insurance Policy Tip #5: Pay for your policy on an annual basis if you can. Most insurance companies will charge you a fee to break the policy down into monthly payments and with renter's insurance already being so low cost it's best if you can just pay the entire year up front to save money. This way there's no chance of forgetting to make the payment either!

Cheap Renter's Insurance Policy Tip #6: If you have to make monthly payments, ask the insurance company to draft the monthly amount out of your checking or savings account or from your credit card. Most renter's insurance companies will offer a discount of up to 5% for paying for your policy by a monthly draft.

Cheap Renter's Insurance Policy Tip #7: Keep deductibles high. While you don't want the deductible so high that you can't afford to pay it if you do file a claim you should make the deductible high enough to deter you from making petty small claims against your renter's insurance policy which can raise your rates significantly.

Cheap Renter's Insurance Policy Tip #8: Install a home alarm system. Monitored home alarm systems can usually be installed for free and then the monthly monitoring is about $20 or less per month. The savings on your renter's insurance may not be quite that on a monthly basis but you will be getting the added security of having a safe house too!

Cheap Renter's Insurance Policy Tip #9: Keep personal property at your home limited--jewelry, cash, firearms, and other personal property items can greatly raise the rates on your renter's insurance policy. Additional coverage is available for these items but there is also an additional charge for this so it's best to keep certain items on hand to a minimum. A bank safe deposit box is a cheaper alternative to store family heirlooms, cash and jewelry.

Cheap Renter's Insurance Policy Tip #10: The number one most important thing to remember when you buy renter's insurance is that rates are ever changing and they are never the same from one company to the next. Always shop around for your renter's insurance policy to assure that you have found the cheapest rate that you can. You will be surprised at the difference in policy rates from one company to another!