8 Ways to Lower Homeowners Insurance Rates
Taking advantage of lesser-known homeowners insurance discounts and other creative approaches can help you save.
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Home insurance rates have skyrocketed in recent years, driven by inflation and natural disasters. If your own premium is looking a little scary these days, you’ve got options. Insurers offer various discounts and incentives that can help you lower your home insurance premium.
Here are eight ways to save.
1. Shop around
Rates for identical coverage can vary widely from one company to the next. Some homeowners could save $2,000 or more a year by finding the cheapest rate, NerdWallet research shows.
Many companies allow you to plug in some basic info and get quick home insurance quotes online. Comparing different companies’ rates will let you see whether you might be able to save by switching insurers. You can also ask an independent insurance agent or broker to shop around for you.
We recommend comparing rates every year or two. Not sure where to start? See NerdWallet’s roundup of the cheapest homeowners insurance.
Nerdy Perspective
The first time I used an independent insurance agent was a game changer. Instead of having to get a bunch of quotes myself, I gave all my details to my agent in one call, then sat back while she shopped on my behalf. She came back with several quotes, and I ended up saving about $600 a year on all my policies (homeowners, auto and umbrella).
2. Bundle your auto and home insurance
Bundling auto and home insurance with the same company can save you up to 40%, depending on the insurer. Additional discounts may be available if you add other policies to the package, such as life, umbrella or boat insurance. See the best home and auto insurance bundles.
More than half of U.S. homeowners (54%) report that their insurance premiums have increased in the past 12 months, according to a 2025 NerdWallet survey of more than 1,300 U.S. homeowners, conducted online by The Harris Poll. According to the survey, 12% of homeowners switched insurance providers in the past 12 months to get a better rate and 10% increased their deductible during this time frame to save money.
3. Build your credit score
It may surprise you to learn that your credit score can have a major impact on your home insurance premium. In most states, companies can use a credit-based insurance score to help set your rates. This score is similar but not identical to your FICO score.
In general, the lower your insurance score, the more you’ll pay for home insurance. That’s because insurance companies view people with lower scores as more likely to file claims.
Someone with poor credit pays over 72% more for homeowners insurance than someone with good credit, on average, according to NerdWallet’s rate analysis.
If you find that your credit score is low, read your credit report closely. (Here’s how to dispute any credit report errors that you see.) You can raise your score by taking steps like making loan payments on time and reducing credit card balances. Learn more about how to build credit.
4. Increase your deductible
A quick way to reduce your premium is to increase your homeowners insurance deductible, the amount you pay if you have to make a claim. (A deductible is the amount you pay if you have to make a claim.) You could save 9% a year on average by raising your deductible from $1,000 to $2,500, according to NerdWallet's rate analysis.
Do the math to see whether the discount is worth it to you. Say switching from a $1,000 deductible to a $2,500 one will save you $200 per year. It would take eight years of premium savings to make up for the extra $1,500 you’d have to pay if you filed a claim.
Never choose a deductible you wouldn’t feel comfortable paying in an emergency.
5. Make your home more secure
Even the basics can save you money when it comes to home security. Having a smoke detector, a burglar alarm or deadbolt locks on your home can earn you a small discount. Adding a full sprinkler system or an actively monitored burglar alarm could save you even more.
Some insurers also offer discounts for smart-home devices such as water sensors that alert your phone if they detect a leak.
6. Skip small claims
It may be tempting to file a claim with your insurer when something relatively minor happens. However, you may be better off in the long run if you pay out of pocket for these smaller expenses. Some insurers offer discounts if you remain claim-free for a certain number of years.
How much can filing a claim affect your rates? Submitting a claim for wind damage raises your cost of insurance by about 10%, on average, according to a recent NerdWallet analysis. If the damage is minor, you could end up paying more in rate increases than the insurer pays for your claim.
When you file a claim, it goes onto your Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange record, also called a CLUE report. Claims generally stay on this report for seven years. Having claims on your record can make it harder to get a policy with a new insurance company.
7. Ask about lesser-known discounts
Unless you check, you may never know what other savings you might be eligible for. Some insurers offer homeowners insurance discounts if you:
Don’t have any smokers living in the house.
Recently bought your home.
Pay your premium via automatic bank payments.
Choose paperless billing.
Work in a specific career, such as teaching, engineering or firefighting.
8. Account for home improvements
If you've improved your home, you may have made yourself eligible for discounts without even realizing it. Adding features like storm shutters and hail-resistant roofing could result in insurance savings. You might also earn a discount by upgrading outdated plumbing and electrical systems.
Reach out to your agent or insurance company to let them know the improvements you’ve made and ask about potential savings.
Keep in mind that some improvements can actually raise your insurance premium. For example, putting an addition on the back of your house could require extra insurance to make sure the new area is covered. Still, you shouldn’t hide such projects to try to save money. If a disaster strikes and you never told your insurer about the new space, your insurer may not cover the damage.
Don’t drop coverage to save money
The one thing we don’t recommend is cutting coverage you might need. If you do that and disaster strikes, you’ll be left footing the bill when it’s time to rebuild your home and replace lost belongings. Learn more about what to do if you can't afford your homeowners insurance.
If possible, you should also avoid dropping other important policies, such as federal flood insurance. Instead, try getting quotes from private flood insurance companies. You may find a cheaper option.
Homeowners insurance rates methodology
NerdWallet calculated median rates for 40-year-old homeowners from various insurance companies in ZIP codes across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. All rates are rounded to the nearest $5.
Sample homeowners were nonsmokers with good credit living in a single-family, two-story home built in 1984. They had a $1,000 deductible and the following coverage limits:
$400,000 in dwelling coverage.
$40,000 in other structures coverage.
$200,000 in personal property coverage.
$80,000 in loss of use coverage.
$300,000 in liability coverage.
$1,000 in medical payments coverage.
We made minor changes to the sample policy in cases where rates for the above coverage limits or deductibles weren’t available.
We used the same assumptions for all other homeowner profiles, with the following exceptions:
For homeowners with a claims history, we added a single wind damage claim.
To see the effect of changing your deductible, we raised the deductible from $1,000 to $2,500.
We changed the credit tier from “good” to “poor,” as reported to the insurer, to see rates for homeowners with poor credit. In states where credit isn’t taken into account, we only used rates for “good” credit.
These are sample rates generated through Quadrant Information Services. Your own rates will be different.
Survey methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of NerdWallet from April 10-14, 2025, among 1,337 U.S. adults ages 18 and older who own a home. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within +/- 3.2 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. This credible interval will be wider among subsets of the surveyed population of interest. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact [email protected].
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