Homeowners insurance can be quite costly. Fortunately, there are ways to dramatically cut costs and pay less. Here are some things you can do to lower your homeowners insurance rates .

Data from several surveys from the Insurance Information Institute conducted over a nine-year period up to 2020 indicated that around 49% of homeowners keep an inventory of their possessions to help document losses when they file insurance claims. It's important to have such information at hand so that you can understand what your current policy covers. You might even find some things that will help lower your insurance cost a bit.

There are several steps that you can take to make your home more disaster-resistant. However, if you want the fixes that will have the most impact on your insurance, you should find out what you can improve from your insurance agent. By adding things like storm shutters and reinforcing your roof, your home's disaster resistance will increase, and you will probably end up paying lower premiums. If you have an older home, you can have it retrofitted to make it better able to withstand earthquakes. Apart from these fixes, you should also consider modernizing your plumbing and electrical systems to lower the risk of water and fire damage, respectively.

Insurance companies offer different types of discounts. For instance, if you stay at home all the time, you may get a discount based on the fact that your home is less likely to be burglarized. Spending more time at home means you can spot fires sooner as well. All these factors can make you eligible for discounts on your homeowners insurance rates.

This is another way to lower the cost of your homeowners insurance rates. If you manage to maintain a good credit record, you may be able to cut your insurance cost. This means you should pay your bills on time and avoid getting more credit than necessary.

You can get several discounts for increasing the security of your home, as mentioned above. For instance, you can add things like smoke detectors, burglar alarms, or deadbolt locks. However, you should understand that these systems aren't cheap. Therefore, before you make any investment, find out what will get you the biggest discount from your insurance company.

These are some of the things that you can do to lower your homeowners insurance rates. It's crucial to also sit with your insurance company and find out if they have any tips for you.