What affects the cost of my home insurance?
There are three main factors that affect the cost of your home insurance:

• How much your home and property are worth (the more expensive it would be to rebuild your home or replace your property, the more insurance you need and the more expensive it will be).
• How safe your neighborhood is (from things like weather, fire and crime). The safer your neighborhood the lower your insurance.
• Your history with insurance and credit. If you have a good credit rating and you have had auto or home insurance before and not made many claims, you can expect lower rates.

There are always things you can do to save money on home insurance. Get more information.

Should I raise my deductible to save money?
Raising your deductible can definitely save you money. But before taking this step, ask yourself two questions:

• Am I likely to have many claims? Remember, you have to pay the amount of the deductible each time you make a claim. So if you make more than one or two claims in a period of a few years, raising your deductible will probably end up costing you more money.
• Can I afford the higher deductible? Don't make the deductible so high that you can't afford to pay it if something were to happen.

Will having a dog affect the cost of my insurance?
Since home insurance usually covers liability in case your dog bites someone, having a dog can affect the cost of your insurance, especially if you get a breed of dog (like a pit bull) that is known to be aggressive. Learn more about dogs and how they affect home insurance rates

Will filing a claim make my insurance rates go up?
Filing a single claim should not affect your insurance, especially, if it was caused by something like the weather, which is totally out of your control. However, filing a number of claims will definitely lead to higher rates. Exactly how many and how much higher your rates will go depends on both the insurance company and the reasons for the claims.