Insurance is an important part of life. But it can also be a big expense. Here’s some advice on how to make sure you’re paying for what you need.
Adapt, update and customize your protection
You can adjust your insurance and do small changes in your everyday life to reduce your insurance cost. Here are some of the changes you can do:
- Choose a higher deductible (the part of the cost you have to pay yourself in the event of a claim). A higher deductible often means a lower insurance price.
- In some cases, you can move all your different insurances to the same insurance company and get a group discount, instead of having them spread out.
- Only insure what needs to be insured. It’s easy to forget which insurances you have and why you got them. Review your insurance policies when your life situation changes. For example, you can unregister your car temporarily, so that you don’t have to pay for car insurance when you don’t use the car for a longer period.
- Make sure that you are not double insured – in other words, you don’t have multiple insurances that cover the same thing. If you live together with someone else, it’s a good idea to go through your insurances together.
- If you are getting high price increases from you existing insurance company, consider cancelling your insurance and go look for another insurance provider. Either you will be offered a better price to stay, or you will find a more affordable alternative.
Aim at being free from claims
Of course, you should always try to avoid claims. Accidents can happen to anyone, but by being more cautious you can be rewarded by your insurance company. If you don’t have any claims for a period of time, you might not be affected by price increases. And in some cases even lower your premium. You can also get a deductible bonus, which can be used when you do have a claim. Remember that you always have the choice to not use your insurance, as there may be other ways to get compensation – for example to demand money back from the retailer you bought a defected product from.
Find and use insurance discounts
Before you sign an insurance, it can be profitable to check around for discount that you can use. Getting a new customer is associated with certain costs for the insurance companies, and therefore many of them are willing to take part of that cost and give as a discount instead. Look for different offers and strike when the discount is at its best. But keep in mind that these discounts usually only apply for a certain time and that the discount can be removed after a couple of months of being a customer.