Save money on insurance by bundling policies
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Trent Hamm Guest blogger
Most major insurance companies offer a wide range of insurance types, from life insurance and auto insurance to rental insurance and homeowners insurance. It鈥檚 good business, since most of the business units you need for one are going to also be used for the other insurance types. They save money because of the overlap.
Of course, when there鈥檚 a market that lots of different companies are competing in, there鈥檚 going to be price competition. Which company is going to offer the lowest prices?
What happens when you add these two things together? Bundling.
Insurance companies will regularly offer you better insurance rates if you buy multiple insurance policies from the same company. If you are new to insurance or have your policies spread among many companies, strongly consider bundling.
So, how do you save money with bundling?
Your first step is to check out the bundling offers. If you already have insurance you鈥檙e happy with, start there with quotes on new policies. Don鈥檛 be afraid to ask for bundling discounts when you do this.
If you鈥檙e new to insurance or are unsure where you would want to bundle policies, start by examining the field. Identify some insurance houses with solid customer support (trust me 鈥� you don鈥檛 want an insurance company that ignores you when you need it), starting with Consumer Reports as your first research tool.
Don鈥檛 be afraid to get multiple quotes when you鈥檙e shopping around, and don鈥檛 be afraid to ask about bundled rates when you get those quotes. Get a quote from each insurance company that seems to fit and go with the one that offers you the best rates.
What if you already have all of your insurance with the same company? Make sure they鈥檙e actually giving you a bundled rate. Examine your bill carefully and make sure there is a discount for having multiple types of policies. If you鈥檙e getting separate bills, you鈥檙e probably not getting reduced rates.
If that鈥檚 the case, call your insurance company and ask about bundling. If they won鈥檛 do it, then they鈥檙e pretty much asking you to shop around.
The goal, as always, is to get great insurance that keeps as much money as possible in your pocket.
This post is part of a yearlong series called 鈥�365 Ways to Live Cheap (Revisited),鈥� in which I鈥檓 revisiting the entries from my book 鈥�365 Ways to Live Cheap,鈥� which is available at Amazon and at bookstores everywhere.
