Home Insurance Articles
How Getting A Home Inspection May Help When Obtaining Homeowner's Insurance
2010-01-18
Many home insurance companies will charge less for homeowner's insurance if a qualified home inspection is carried out on the property before it's insured. Some insurers even insist on home inspections. If you've ever tried to get a lower homeowner's insurance rate, you might have thought about a home inspection as a solution, but you might also have wondered why the services are deemed so valuable by insurers.
Basically, the services of a home inspector let the insurance company know what they're getting into, and decrease the risk of insuring you from their point of view. A good home inspector will be able to find any major problems that could lead to serious home issues. An exposed wire might cause a fire, for instance, or a leaky pipe could burst, flooding (and ruining) everything in a home. The issues might be small or technical enough that even a fairly knowledgeable home owner wouldn't notice them; the wrong type of material might be used in gas lines, or electrical outlets could be wired incorrectly. Home inspectors are trained to be able to recognize such issues and recommend the right course of action to treat them correctly and immediately. This is certainly advantageous when it comes to homeowner's insurance; there's less of a chance of a claim if there are fewer issues with a house that might result in major damage.
Home inspectors also notice minor issues, and survey the outside of homes as well as the inside. They'll recognize potential threats to a property, such as an overhanging tree in a neighbor's yard that's about to snap, and any parts of your property that aren't up to the local or state-wide building codes. All of this means that your home insurance policy is safer from the insurer's point of view, because your home itself is made quite a bit safer. It's a win-win for everyone involved, because you're able to obtain lower insurance rates and you might be able to get insurance from companies that refused you in the past. In turn, the insurance companies are making a much safer investment.
Getting a home inspection is a great idea if you're considering any type of homeowner's insurance, and employing an inspector is also a great idea before you buy a new property. The value of inspection services far exceeds their costs; it's often only a hundred dollars or so and a few hours of your time to walk through your property with a qualified professional. You'll learn more about your house and lock down a great insurance rate in the process.