How to Shop for Homeowners Insurance Quotes Online

How to Shop for Homeowners Insurance Quotes Online

Are you getting the information you need?

Thanks to the Internet you don't have to spend hours on the phone with your agent when you want to buy a homeowners insurance policy. It's great! Sit down in front of your computer with a cup of coffee in one hand and a bagel in the other and you can submit requests for insurance quotes to all of the best insurance companies in the business by lunch.

The thing is, those initial quotes are just that-initial. And since you don't want to have to pick up the phone and call each and every one of those companies to get your own personalized quote (wasn't that why you were using the Internet in the first place?) you need to make sure you're giving them all the information they need to have you running on the inside track from the very beginning.

The first thing you want to do before you even start looking for homeowners insurance quotes is make sure you've got all the dirt on your house.

· What's it built from?

· When was it built? (You'd be amazed at how many insurance shoppers don't have a clue!)

· How large is it?

· Are you sitting on or near any major fault lines or mine shafts that could cause disaster in the not so distant future?

· Do you have deadbolts on your doors?

· Are your smoke detectors in working order?

· Do you have an electronic security system?

· What insurance claims have homeowners filed in the past? (They may contact the other insurance company to verify this.)

· How close are you to the nearest police station/fire department/fire hydrant?

· Have there been any recent renovations?

Once you've covered the basics on your house it's time to move on to you. How often are you home? It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the more you're home the less risk there is (theoretically) of your house being robbed or burning to the ground without anyone noticing! If you're there burglars are more likely to give you a wide berth in favor of the abandoned building next door, and you have a good chance of calling 911 and getting the fire department out there before your home burns to the ground.

When you're talking about finding a good deal on your insurance it's all about relative risk, so make sure you've got all the info on how you're minimizing that risk before you start hunting around for homeowners insurance quotes. Most companies aren't going to use an automated service to give you your quote; they're going to look over your information and call or email you back. Then you're going to pick the best candidates out of these to get a personalized insurance quote and buy your policy.

You can save yourself time, money and migraines by making sure they've got all the information they need to give you the right numbers the first time.