It would be easy to tell you to just go online, find one of the many sites that let you compare the prices of homeowner's insurance policies from different insurance companies, and be done with it.
Unfortunately, doing that won't guarantee that you'll find the cheapest Iowa homeowner's insurance online.
The good news is that all of the steps you need to take before you go online to look for a cheap homeowner's insurance policy are pretty easy.
First, let's talk about smoking. If you smoke, your homeowner's insurance will cost more. It's really that easy. If you want to get the best rates, you need to stop smoking. If you already have a homeowner's insurance policy and you smoked when you got it but have quit since then, you should let your agent know because your monthly premiums will go down quite a bit.
Do you have other insurance policies with the same company, like auto insurance or health insurance? If so, you should get a discount for having more than one policy.
Also, if you have been with the same insurance company for 5 or 6 years, you should ask your agent if you are eligible for a Long-Term Discount.
Keep a good credit score. Many people don't know that your credit score affects how much you pay each month for your homeowner's insurance premium. Homeowner's insurance costs less each month the better your credit score is.
If your home is more than 10 years old, ask your agent how much you could save by upgrading the plumbing or electrical system.
A big part of the monthly premium you pay for your policy is based on how likely it is to catch fire. If you clear all brush and weeds ten feet away from all buildings on your property, you can often lower your premium.
If you can afford to install a sprinkler system or a monitored home security system that reports fires and break-ins to the police 24/7, you could get up to a 30% discount on your monthly homeowner's insurance premium. Talk to your agent before installing one of these systems, though, because not all systems get the same discount.
Install outdoor floodlights that turn on when someone moves near them, and keep bushes away from all windows to keep burglars away.
Install deadbolt locks on all exterior doors and make sure that all windows, even those on higher floors, have locks that work.
Make sure that you have the right number of fire and smoke detectors for the size and layout of your home and that they all work. Change the batteries twice a year, when clocks are moved ahead or back an hour.
You should buy a fire extinguisher that is made for kitchen fires and keep it in your kitchen.
Make sure that when you set the value of your policy, it's enough to rebuild your home from the foundation up and to replace all of your belongings. However, don't make the mistake of insuring the land under your home.
Can you pay for your policy to have a higher deductible? Think carefully about this question, because if you ever have a claim, you will need to come up with the money to cover your deductible. If you raise your deductible from $500 to $1,000, your monthly premium payment will go down by a lot.
Now that you know what to look for in a policy and how to set it up to save you the most money each month, you should go online and start comparing prices and policies on at least 3 websites that let you do this in Iowa.
If you really want to get cheap homeowner's insurance online in Iowa, you should take the extra time to compare on at least three different sites, since no one site compares all of the different insurance companies in the state.
