3 Ways to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance in 2024

When you own a home, insurance is a major expense you need to account for. It's so essential that you generally cannot get a mortgage without it.

But a recent report by the Wall Street Journal has found that property owners are increasingly forgoing homeowners insurance due to cost. And that's a problem. (Of course, in some disaster-prone areas, insurers are no longer writing policies, so that could be a contributing factor as well.)

If you're having a hard time affording homeowners insurance, you may be inclined to go a similar route. But that could leave you in a downright terrible spot if major damage occurs to your property or, worse yet, your home gets destroyed completely.

Plus, homeowners insurance doesn't just pay to fix your home. If a visitor gets hurt on your property, the liability portion of your policy could kick in, protecting you from a personal lawsuit.

So rather than make plans to dump your homeowners insurance, instead focus on steps you can take in the new year to lower your costs. Here are some tactics that might work.

1. Bundle with your auto insurance

Own a vehicle as well as a home? Using the same insurance company for both a homeowners and auto policy could result in lower costs for both. However, don't just make this assumption. Rather, shop around with different insurers to see what their bundled versus unbundled rates look like.

2. Add security features

Investing in certain security features that help you feel safer at home could result in lower homeowners insurance rates. These might include:

• An alarm system
• Doorbell camera
• Storm shutters
• Water leak sensors

However, before you purchase any of these items for the express purpose of slashing your homeowners insurance rates, talk to your insurance company to see what savings, if any, are likely to ensue. If your sole motivation for installing a doorbell camera is to lower your homeowners insurance costs but you're looking at a non-existent discount, why spend the money?

3. Boost your credit score

Your credit score tells lenders how risky or reliable you are as a borrower. As such, you'd think it wouldn't really be a factor in what you're charged for homeowners insurance.

But believe it or not, you may find that raising your credit score results in reduced premium rates for your homeowners policy, as it may indicate that you're a responsible person who will care for your home wisely.

Plus, a higher credit score could make it easier to qualify for loans and snag competitive interest rates when you do seek to borrow. So it pays to work on raising your score by paying your bills promptly, whittling down credit card balances, and reviewing your credit report once every few months for mistakes.

If you're struggling to keep up with the cost of homeowners insurance to the point where you're thinking of ditching that coverage altogether, that's a problem. Rather than go that route and put yourself at risk of ending up without a home to live in, try using these tips to lower your costs in 2024.