Critical Factors That Drive Insurance Premium Costs

If there’s one thing a home insurance policy offers you, it’s peace of mind and assurance. In the event of natural disaster or even theft, most policies offer homeowners the protection they wouldn’t normally get if they weren’t insured. However, the added ongoing costs associated with home insurance can be a barrier for those who feel there is a better way to go about things.

The good news is that paying for insurance doesn’t always have to be overly expensive. Today, we will discuss how you can decrease your insurance by storing your valuables in a safety deposit box.

However, according to the Insurance Council of Australia, up to 1.8 million residential households do not have a building or contents insurance policy to protect their property. This is an alarming scenario since the benefits of having your home insured outweigh the cons. Having insurance not only protects homeowners from lawsuits and property damage, but most policies also offer reimbursement for lost items.

A report by the Insurance Council of Australia further explains that those who choose to remain uninsured often see little benefit in getting insurance. They are either sufficiently wealthy and potential loss is insignificant, or they have very little to insure.

The cost of home insurance premiums is often driven by several things.

This includes:

• The features and characteristics of your home including its age, the type of structure, the materials used, the type of roof or garage you have, the electrical wiring used, and more;
• The location of your home and whether or not it is close to a fire station or is exposed to extreme weather such as hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, flooding and the like;
• The protective features currently installed in your home including smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, sprinkler systems, and burglar alarms;
• Your claims history;
• Personal factors such as your credit rating, whether you smoke or not, or if an elderly is residing in your home;
• The cost of the items you store in your home.

These factors help insurers determine the amount you’ll pay in premiums on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual, or annual basis.

Why Do You Need a Safe Deposit Box?

For many, a safe deposit box (SDB) is simply a secure place where you can store important items that may be difficult or impossible to replace once damaged or stolen. In particular, SDBs facilitated by private vault facilities offer the best multi-faceted security for your valuable items since they are not affiliated with any bank and are not regulated by the government. But did you know that renting an SDB can also help lower your insurance premiums?

Generally, insurers charge higher premiums for valuable items such as expensive jewellery, bullion, precious metals, and heirlooms that are stored at home since these contents increase the coverage a homeowner requires. In addition, insuring such items is often added on top of an existing home insurance policy, depending on your insurer. This added cost can and will increase your premium.

However, if you rent a security box from a third party provider, then two things will happen that will help lower your premium costs: Firstly, it will cost you less to rent a private SDB than to purchase additional coverage on top of your existing policy and secondly, most insurers offer discounts on premiums if you store valuables outside of your home; particularly in the case of jewellery.

Note, however, that most companies will require you to keep an updated list/inventory and photo documentation of the contents of your SDB to document your potential discount. Also, some insurers will also require that these items should only be taken out occasionally and that advance notice should be given if the owner will use them.

Here for Your Safe Deposit Box Needs

At Private Vaults Australia, we ensure the protection of your valuable items with multiple layers of state-of-the-art security and complimentary insurance of $20,000 to get you started.

For more info on how to decrease your insurance by storing your valuables in a safety deposit box, contact PVA or read the PVA blog for more interesting news, tips and ideas to guide you.