Country Home Insurance

Purchasing a country home is a dream come true for many, especially those who live and work in a big city, like New York or Dallas. This is why many spend their holidays in less condensed communities where they can escape the congestion and stress of their communities.

Among the plusses of owning a country home are great neighbors - some of whom are also from the city, peace and quiet, and a place to reset, recharge, and defrag.

However, all of these benefits will be obliterated if you do not properly insure your home. This includes insuring it for the right amount (while getting a good deal) as well as making sure your coverage covers you in the events of flooding.

Always compare polices before making any decisions. Start today by using the FREE tool at the top of this page!

Do you really need insurance?

Legally speaking, the only people who need homeowner's insurance are those who owe money against the property in the form of a mortgage. This is because the lender needs the insurance as a guarantee against the possible loss of its investment. The policy, essentially, acts as collateral in place of the home that had been in its place to cover themselves.

This does not mean that insurance shouldn't be held by those who have paid off their home loan. The truth is that if you are the owner of every dollar of equity in the home, then there is even more reason to be insured.

After all, insuring the home was good enough for a bank so it should be good enough for you, your family, and your estate.

The question is how can you find the right insurance, and get it at the right price?

How to Find the Right Insurance

At its most basic level the "right" insurance is easy to find, but not all insurance companies are offering the same products for the same prices. This is where you may want to look into the federal government's guide to saving money on insurance.

Among the 12 ways to save money are common sense consumer ideas like:

• Shopping around
• Consider the cost before purchasing
• Get a home security system

But there are also lesser known facts that include knowing your rebuilding costs, maintaining good credit, and checking out private insurers over government plans.

On rebuilding costs: This pertains mostly to older homes. For example, if you purchase a 2000 sq' home that was built in 1920, it will sell for less than a newly constructed home.

However, if a 100-year-old home is destroyed, perhaps in a storm, then the rebuilding will be of a home of the same dimensions, but with all new building materials. The $125,000 home will need to be replaced by a home that is now worth $175,000. For this reason you will need to buy insurance not to match the value of the home, but the value of its replacement.

Maintaining good credit: People with good credit are seen to be lower risks than those who aren't. This is reflected in better prices, even on insurance. The idea behind this is that people with impeccable credit have lives that match this area of behavior.

It's the same reason why people with good credit don't need to put down a deposit on a cell phone; there is past evidence that they will be responsible.

Private Insurers Over Government Programs: Certain high risk areas of the country have led many insurance companies in the past to leave, but that has been changing. The result is more choices.

Those choices lead to potential savings because the private insurers need to have something to offer to entice your business. What they can offer is better prices and more flexible policies.

This is all part of properly insuring your home.

Properly Insuring Your Country Home

Replacement cost has already been covered, but there are details outside of this. For example, have you reevaluated your policy recently? This is necessary for any improvements have been put in place that may make the home safer.

The government's guide discussed installing a burglar alarm, which will also call the central station in the event of a gas leak, fire, or a sudden loud noise. But there are also improvements that reinforce windows, waterproof the home, and strengthen the roof.

By having these improvements in place, the insurance premiums should drop, but that is only if you are proactive in the process of making sure you are saving money.

Prior to any installations and installments, though, there are times when a home is not properly covered. For example, a home could be insured for more square footage than it actually has. It may also be labeled to be in a higher risk area than it really is. Mistakes like these can cost hundreds of dollars a year, or more.

Lastly, many people forgo flood insurance. The idea is that if one is not in a flood zone he can save money. However, this is a dangerous choice because regular insurance policies do not cover flooding, and what constitutes flooding may be surprising.

Flood Insurance: What constitutes flooding?

The national weather service defines flooding as "an overflow of water onto dry land." Your insurer has another method by which the occasion of water destroying your home is defined as a flood, therefore necessitating flood insurance.

Example of flooding: It is hurricane season and a storm strikes trough your area. The winds reach great speed and bring down a large tree. The tree falls upon the roof of your home and creates a hole in it. Rain continues to pour for the next twelve hours.

When you make the insurance claim it is deemed that the falling tree is covered by your policy, but the rain that came in as a result of the hole in the roof is flooding the property. The result is that you need to exercise your flood policy for the repairs.

What this means is that everyone truly needs flood insurance. A backed up storm drain, a tree branch that breaks a window, and a pipe that breaks as the result of an earthquake and floods your basement will be deemed to be flooding. It does not matter that it is the result of a hurricane, earthquake, or other event, the destruction caused by flooding (as opposed to being caused by an actual flood of rising water) will only be covered by flood insurance.

Saving on Country Home Insurance

Scrimping on insurance is not wise, but there is no reason to pay more than is necessary for your policy. Three more tips that will help you keep your premiums down are to get all policies with one company, ask for discounts, and not smoke.

Use one insurer for all policies: When consumers use one company for their home, auto and life insurance policies, they usually get an automatic discount. The reason for this is because the insurance companies know that they have a lot of competition and they need to offer incentives to get more of your business.

Additionally, they know that if you buy from two companies and the other company offers you a better deal to come over to them, then they'll lose your business. This should be used to your advantage.

Ask for discounts

: Do you know someone who doesn't pay bank fees that others do? How about a person who can negotiate on the price of something at a store that doesn't normally offer them? The reason this person saves money that others lose is because they know to ask. You need to do the same thing with your insurance agent.

While it would be great if your agent simply called you to offer every discount available, the truth is that he or she has hundreds of clients and is often being pushed to bring in more each month. However, when you reach out to him or her and find satisfaction it's possible that you will refer a new client.

In sum, country home insurance needs to be for the right amount. This means understand the cost of rebuilding, the square footage of what is being insured, and reevaluating the policy each year or when updates are made. Updates can be improvements that make the home more valuable or security measures that protect against home invasions and/or natural disasters.

Be sure to compare rates on insurance policies by using the FREE tool below!