7 ways to lower your home insurance premium

Premiums vary a lot between carriers, but here are practical steps most homeowners can take to bring costs down without sacrificing real protection.

1. Shop around regularly

Carriers update their pricing models often. Comparing quotes every 1–2 years is one of the highest-leverage things you can do. Start a free quote.

2. Raise your deductible

Moving from a $500 to a $1,000 or $2,500 deductible can meaningfully lower your premium. Just make sure you can comfortably cover that out of pocket.

3. Bundle home and auto

Most major carriers offer multi-policy discounts of 10–25% when you bundle.

4. Improve your home's resilience

Impact-resistant roofing, storm shutters, and updated electrical/plumbing can earn discounts and reduce risk.

5. Install monitored alarms

Monitored burglar and fire alarms typically qualify for a discount.

6. Ask about every discount

Loyalty, claims-free, paid-in-full, paperless, military, retiree, and new-home discounts are all common.

7. Improve your credit-based insurance score

In most states, insurers use a credit-based score in underwriting. Paying down debt and disputing errors can help over time.

Can you reduce your dwelling coverage to lower the premium?

Usually it's the wrong lever. Dwelling coverage is based on what it would cost to rebuild your home — not its market value — and most companies require you to insure the house for at least 80% of its replacement cost, with some requiring 100%. Trim the number below what rebuilding actually costs and you become underinsured: after a loss, you pay the difference out of your own pocket.

If your premium jumped because the insurer raised its rebuild estimate, the better move is to ask how the estimate was calculated and correct it with real numbers for your home. Cutting dwelling coverage to save money works only until the first serious claim; the levers above — deductible, discounts, shopping the renewal — bring the cost down without hollowing out the policy.

Coverage matters more than the cheapest premium. Use these levers to bring cost down while keeping your limits in line with your home's rebuild cost.