Reddit's Best Little-Known Tips for Homeowners Insurance

Homeowners need to read these Reddit tips to make smart choices about their property insurance.

Buying homeowners insurance is something every property owner needs to do. Without it, financial devastation could result if something goes wrong at home. Most mortgage lenders also mandate that homeowners put comprehensive insurance coverage in place.

Unfortunately, finding and buying the right homeowners insurance coverage at the most affordable price is easier said than done. The good news, though, is that advice abounds that can help homeowners get a good policy. And one of the best sources of this advice comes from a surprising place: Reddit.

Reddit is a popular social network where people start threads to ask questions or share helpful info. Many Reddit threads are devoted to homeowners insurance issues. Here is some of the best advice provided on this topic.

Make sure to have the right amount of coverage in place

One of the most important tips from Reddit relates to the amount of coverage homeowners need.

One poster explained they had purchased a property that tripled in value over the course of a short time because the real estate market exploded in their area. The Redditor wanted to know if it was a good idea to up their insurance coverage.

Other posters advised that it might indeed be a smart plan to do so -- but only if the actual cost to replace the property had gone up and not just the market value.

"Very often, most of increased housing prices is due to land prices increasing," one Redditor wrote. "You shouldn't need more coverage just to account for lot value increase. But absolutely, it makes sense to increase coverage to ensure you could build/replace your house at current construction rates."

Another poster explained that the best option was to call the insurer and have the company run the home through a rebuild underwriting system to get an idea of actual rebuilding costs. This could reveal that replacing the home might be less expensive than anticipated, so it would be possible to set policy limits lower.

Of course, no homeowner wants to be left with too little money to replace their current house. But, it's important to be realistic and informed about what replacement would actually cost in order to avoid paying for unnecessarily high coverage.

Be smart about riders

Many home insurers offer add-on protections in addition to a standard policy. And purchasing some of these could be a smart choice.

"As a personal lines insurance broker, I always recommend additional replacement cost protection, 100% roof and contents replacement cost, water back up coverage" one Redditor wrote.

These home insurance riders would ensure that a home and its contents could be replaced by an insurer in the event of a total loss, and that serious water damage incidents would also be covered. The added peace-of-mind would be worth it for many.

"I've added those to nearly every policy I've written because I've seen total loss claims where the insured did not have enough coverage, seen roofs replaced at depreciated value instead of replacement cost and had plenty of water back up claims denied because they didn't carry the rider," the Redditor warned.

Ask for a discount when all else fails

One Reddit user provided a really helpful money-saving tip that may seem obvious but that many people overlook.

The Redditor had shopped around for home insurance coverage and was able to find a policy that was $240 cheaper than what they were paying with their current company -- but they liked their current insurer. So, they simply called and asked for a reduced price.

"I decided to call and ask about the homeowners insurance and see if they could do anything," the poster wrote. "I told them the rate I had been quoted (this was the combined home & auto rate,) and I got them to reduce it!"

As the poster said, "it never hurts to ask." And doing so could make all the difference in terms of premium pricing.

By following these tips, hopefully homeowners can get the insurance coverage they need to protect their most valuable asset without breaking the bank.