For the Lowest Home Insurance Rates, Go Insurance Rates

Snow can be beautiful, but when it covers every inch of your home and property, it can potentially cause much damage. Winterizing (or winter-proofing) your home is an important step to take prior to the first snowfall of the season. Additionally, by taking the proper precautions to winter-proof your home and minimize any chance of winter damage, you can save money on your homeowner's insurance premiums due to a number of factors.

Most Common Winter Damage

Some common winter home damage that may result in increased insurance rates include:

• Frozen Pipes: The fact is water will freeze and convert to ice when temperatures drop far enough. When that occurs in your plumbing system, it is actually not the ice that causes problems but the increased pressure that forces the water downstream, which may result in a burst pipe. Upon that eruption, flooding can cause significant amounts of damage to your property and personal items.
• Improperly Protected Heat Sources: Annual maintenance of your furnace (including filters and duct cleaning), and your fireplace/chimney (cleaning, opening the flue, repairing any cracks) are a must for fireproofing your home. If those sources aren't well maintained, a fire can occur.
• Roof Maintenance: If your roof is not properly reinforced, a collapse is possible. Another scenario involves a spring thaw and leakage directly into your home. When that happens and the repairs are too costly, making an insurance claim is tempting.
• Tree Trimming: Just like your roof, tree branches can buckle under the weight of the snow. Not only do you need to think about your home insurance rates escalating, your auto insurance rates could also rise depending on where you park your vehicle when not in use.

Preventative measures to mitigate winter damage to your home will not only prevent escalating insurance rates, but also provide you with an additional peace of mind.

Has your home been damaged significantly in the past by winter conditions?

Winter has descended on America once again, plunging much of the nation into bitter cold. Freezing temperatures are not at all uncommon - in some places it may even seem like they're the norm - and along with them comes all kinds of problems for home owners. One of the most common complications of cold weather is bursting, broken water pipes, and home owners need to be absolutely certain that their home insurance covers the resulting damages.

Bursting Pipes are Costly

In a nutshell, your home's plumbing system contains water in it at all times. It's there to be used when you need it. When the temperature drops to 32 degrees Fahrenheit or below, the water freezes. When water freezes it expands, and the pipes that hold it burst and crack because they don't have the necessary space to contain it. Later, the temperature goes above 32 degrees and the ice reverts to water - which then comes spilling out into your home. This can result in serious water damage, even if the crack is a tiny one. Water streaming into your living room, for example, could destroy your brand-new HDTV, your furniture, and precious heirlooms. Water damage is in the top five of all home insurance claims, and bursting pipes are a big part of it. The problem is particularly acute for owners of older homes.

Recommendations for Protecting your Pipes

There are plenty of things a home owner can do to protect their most precious investment from water damage resulting from burst pipes:

• Wrap your pipes to make sure the water they carry stays unfrozen
• Turn off your water when you are away on a trip and know that it is not being used
• Get a good home insurance policy to cover you so you don't have to worry about it

Wrapping pipes in special material and turning off the water when going away overnight are just two tactics to be employed, but nothing protects your home like good, affordable home insurance.

To make sure your home is protected, consult with your home insurance provider about the details of your home insurance policy. If you're not, explore buying an optional rider to get the coverage you need.

If you're a homeowner living in Louisiana with a State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. policy, you could see your premium jump as high as 19.1 percent this year. That's according to the Department of Insurance, which recently granted the insurer the right to raise rates at least this much. The increase...

Fire can have devastating effects on all it touches and this element is a leading cause for accidental deaths in the nation. Taking fires seriously and making all attempts to fireproof your home is the only logical decision, and being proactive in fire prevention certainly helps.

Fire...

Last week it was revealed that according to FEMA's new flood map, a few thousand in Southern California would be required to acquire flood insurance; however, FEMA has now announcedthat some of those residents don't live in risky areas after all. The news comes as a relief to many residents who...

Do you know what's really covered in a home insurance policy? Not many people do. It is important to have home insurance because it is designed to help protect you, the homeowner, from the different risks associated with owning a home .

We detailed what is and is not covered in a general home...

A number of homeowners are suing insurance companies over inadequate Chinese drywall claims.

The drywall issues, which were found nation-wide, resulted in corroded plumbing and sick home dwellers. While thousands of homeowners are known to have been affected by the defective drywall, so far...

As FEMA continues to update its flood maps nationwide, it seems that some Southern California residents will now be affected.

According to recent reports, tens of thousands of residents in the area will be forced to purchase flood insurance because their areas are now viewed as risky.

FEMA's...

Insurance agents and brokers such as Trusted Choice and the Independent Agents & Brokers of America are offering tips to help families avoid winter risks that could increase homeowners insurance rates. By keeping your home out of danger's way, you could avoid having to file claims, which in turn...

Mortgage insurers saw a leap in demand after the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released a report on Tuesday, Dec. 22. The report released better-than-expected home sales and increased hope that the sector wouldn't suffer as heavy a loss as once thought from millions of defaults and...