Save Your Gold by Turning Your Home Into Ft. Knox

Save Your Gold by Turning Your Home Into Ft. Knox

Easy Ways to Pump Up Your Home's Security for Cheaper Home Insurance

Since your homeowners insurance provider is going to be the one to have to replace anything you lose if you get ripped off by a thief with more ambition than sense it stands to logic that they would want to encourage you to keep your home locked up tight-really tight. Ft. Knox tight. And they do that by lowering the premiums on your homeowners insurance.

Yep, that's right. If you pump up the security system on your home to keep your valuables safe and sound (which you really should be doing anyway) your homeowners insurance will reward your safety savvy by offering you dramatic discounts on your insurance premiums. Most homeowners insurance providers offer discounts for:

1) Smoke detectors. Almost all homes come with these essential safety features pre-installed, and if they don't you should definitely put it on your to-do list for your family's well being. If you're upstairs, how else are you going to know that dinner's done?

All joking aside, smoke detectors are a vital part of protecting your home and your family-and they usually come with a handy dandy five to ten percent discount on your homeowners insurance premiums.

2) Burglar alarms. You don't have to spend thousands of dollars to keep your homeowners insurance rates down and your home burglar free. A simple, $50 or less burglar alarm that lets you know when someone's up to no good on your property provides you with a great early warning system and can save you at least 5% on your annual premium.

3) Dead bolts. Since lock picking kits have gotten a lot easier to come by (did you know there are over 4 million sites on the web that have them for sale, no questions asked?) most homeowners are turning to dead bolts (which are much harder to pick, jimmy or jiggle than ordinary locks) and other advanced locking mechanisms to keep their family in and uninvited guests out. For $50 or less you can save 5% or more on your homeowners insurance premiums.

4) Sprinkler systems. If you've ever gotten caught trying to smoke in the bathroom of a public facility

Roughly 85% of burglars choose to target homes not protected by a home security system.

(restaurant, department store, public high school…) you know that most sprinkler systems pick up on a fairly small amount of smoke fairly quickly. This makes them a great tool for minimizing the amount of damage your home will suffer in the event of a fire and a great way to cut 15-20% (maximum) off of your homeowners insurance.

5) And finally, la pièce de résistance (drum roll please). If you decide to hook up a sophisticated security system that links your home directly to the local police and fire department in case of emergency you can save up to 20% on your homeowners insurance. These systems are far from inexpensive, but the cost is balanced out by the peace of mind you'll feel knowing your family is safe and protected (and the goodwill you're going to feel when you're gloating to your neighbors about how much less you're paying for insurance than they are).

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