Shopping for Homeowner’s Insurance can be a daunting task. You’re a positive person, you don’t want to think about all the bad things that could go wrong. You’re looking to make the biggest purchase of your life, it’s difficult to immediately consider all the things that could wrong and all the things you’ll need coverage for. But your house needs a helmet, and you need homeowner’s insurance. You talk to an agent, you determine how much coverage you need, you gather all the specs about your home, and you have the house inspected. You follow all the steps outlined in helpful insurance checklists, and you’re well on your way. But before you settle for one type of coverage, before you sign on the dotted line, you need to be aware of all the different discounts you’re entitled to receive depending on what your home is equipped with. There are many discounts companies will offer that you’ve probably never even considered before such as discounts for having burglar alarms or discounts for having fire alarms. We’re going to focus on the discounts the roof over your head can provide. Here are 5 Insurance Discounts you can get just from your roof:
The Hail Resistant/ Impact Resistant Roof Discount
Many companies offer discounts if you’re roof is resistant to hail damage. Whether or not you can receive the discount depends on what roofing material was used and what roof coverings classification the roof falls under. How is this calculated? It’s dependent on what region your home is in—if it’s in an area with the worst history of hail damage, for example, you’ll get the bigger discount. The discount also depends on whether or not you have “homeowners” insurance or “Dwelling/extended insurance.” More information on how this is calculated can be found here. Be sure to check into this discount since the majority of insurance companies provide some sort of discount for impact resistant roofs. Of the 31 local insurance companies listed here, 20 offer discounts for impact resistant roofs. So get your house a good helmet for the next hailstorm!
The Fire Resistant Roof Discount
Fire, possibly the biggest fear for homeowners, can be prevented by a Fire-Resistance Roof. As if a roof that will protect your loved ones, photographs, furniture and all your mementos isn’t enough, you can also get an insurance discount for having a fire resistance roof. Check out which companies offer this discount here. While not as frequently-offered as discounts for Hail Resistant Roofs are, it’s still worth checking into. If you have a fire resistant roof, definitely look for an insurance company that offers a discount.
The EnergyStar™ Roof Discount
EnergyStar™ roofs are great because they help the homeowner lower the costs to air condition their home. EnergyStar™ roof products reflect sunlight and therefore lower the temperature of the roof so less air conditioning is required to cool the building. While insurance companies don’t offer discounts for having EnergyStar™ products, there are tax incentives that can benefit the homeowner if they have EnergyStar™ products– up to a 10% discount!
The Metal Roofing Discount
Metal Roofs come in all shapes and sizes. They can be fire resistant and impact resistant, EnergyStar™ rated and brand new—all of these options are worthy of a discount. So if you have a metal roof, you can pretty much plan on gaining some sort of discount for having one. Sometimes, the discounts can be 30% or more. So not only will a metal roof save you money on energy costs, but it can also provide an insurance discount as well. The discount depends on factors such as location and material used and of course varies from provider to provider, but be sure to ask what sort of discount you’re entitled to receive for your metal roof. StateFarm’s policies can be found here.
The New Roof Discount
This applies not only to new homeowners, but also to homeowners who’ve just added a new roof. Check insurance websites to see what types of discounts new homes, or new roofs can provide when new improvements are made to your home (Farmers Insurance outlines the various discounts here). Even if you already have insurance, but you just installed a new roof, you should contact your insurance company to see if they’ll issue some sort of discount. Even small home or roof repairs can dramatically drop your insurance costs.
It pays to shop around, as every insurance company has different policies, but that roof over your head can be a well of secret-savings, you just have to ask the right questions, like the College Station roofing professionals at Schulte Roofing.