1. Ensure that all accessible external doors and windows are fitted with locks and the keys removed and hidden from view. This is a basic security measure, especially in places where you’re new and anybody can just break in your room.

2. Check with the landlord that previous tenants no longer have any keys. The previous tenants might come back and just enter without your permission. They might not have clean intentions. To avoid this, make sure that they had surrendered their keys to the landlord.

3. If in shared accommodation check the room door can be locked. It might not be safe with many people in one building. And it’s not always safe when you’re sharing your accommodation with someone you’ve just met. Privacy also comes into play, and a lock on your door may just help.

4. Join your local Neighbourhood Watch scheme and meet the neighbours. If there are any on your new place, join them! Other than being a great way to meet new people and make new friends, you’ll also be able to keep up with the different dangers in the area and security measures to employ.

5. Arrange for a friend to visit the property regularly if you are away to remove any mail and put it in a safe place. Don’t forget to provide them with a contact number. If you have to go somewhere, like go back home to your parents’ house for an occasion, have your friend take care of things for a while. It’s important that people will think that there is still someone present in the property to avoid burglary and break-ins.

6. Check outside lighting does work and leave lights on in the house during darkness using a suitable timing device. Lighting and timing devices have proven to be a burglar’s enemies.

7. Remove any valuables from show and put in a safe place, hidden from view. If you don’t them stolen, then better to keep it hidden safely.

8. Whenever you leave your home always lock all doors, even if it’s only for a couple of minutes. Don’t think that a few minutes isn’t enough for a burglar.

9. If the property has a garden, check access is secure. Burglars sometimes use the garden as a hiding place. Check whether anyone can possibly use the garden as a tool for hiding and check for any entrance and exits.

10. Ensure you have the household insurance policy details and a contact number handy in case a claim has to be made. Check in detail what the insurance covers in the likely situation that belongings will be stolen.

Source: Easier Finance

Liz Pulliam Weston is an author of many books and a personal finance columnist for MSN Money. Her 3 Costly Myths About On Insurance is just one of her many contributions to the financial world. The following is from the said article and talks of the 3 myths in insurance that can cost you a lot of money:

Myth: Your benefits should roughly equal the premiums you’ve paid

Many people feel cheated if they aren’t “using” their insurance — in other words, if they pay premiums for years and never make a claim.

That, however, is exactly what you want to happen with most types of insurance.

Sound insane? It’s really not. Most of the time, insurance should be thought of as your protection against true financial catastrophe, not as a buffer against the normal ups and downs of daily living.

You want your homeowners insurance to be there if your house ever burns down, for example, because you probably don’t have enough savings to rebuild your home or pay off your mortgage otherwise. On the other hand, you can easily swing the cost of replacing a pane when Sally down the street knocks a line drive through your window.

So why pay extra for a policy with a low deductible, just so you can get your insurance company to cover a cost you could readily handle on your own?

Opting for deductibles of $500 to $1,000, instead of $100 to $250, can save you as much as 35% on your premiums.

Myth: Insurance should cover disasters that are likely to happen

More than 80% of California homeowners don’t have earthquake insurance. That figure often stuns people from out of state, because of the widely held notion that the Golden State is a bowlful of geological jelly.

Californians, however, know that serious earthquakes are pretty rare. Most are mild, and almost all are very localized. So, the chances of your own home getting totaled in one are actually pretty slim. That excuses Californians from buying coverage, right? Hardly. Similarly, you may not be off the hook if you don’t have flood or windstorm insurance.

* Video: Save money on home insurance

Remember, insurance is meant to protect you from financial catastrophe — disasters from which you could not easily recover on your own.

Some people ignore this advice, figuring the federal government will come through for them in a disaster. You should know, however, that typically this help isn’t free. Most help comes in the form of low-interest loans.

One look at the wake of Hurricane Katrina should make you wary of relying on government help. Even with such aid, many people lost their homes in the 1994 Northridge quake in California. They found they couldn’t simultaneously pay their mortgages and afford places to live while their homes were being rebuilt.

So, if you don’t have enough cash saved up to rebuild your home or pay off the mortgage, and you live in an area where natural disasters are a distinct possibility, you need appropriate coverage.

Myth: Insurance is a rip-off; buy only the minimum required

This idea occasionally surfaces on the Your Money message boards and in e-mails I get from readers. People’s suspicion of the insurance industry can be so profound, they’ll put themselves in real financial danger — the old cut-off-your-schnoz-to-spite-your-face response.

It’s scariest when people skimp on liability insurance. This pays for the damage you do to other people or that they do to themselves on your property.

Say you’re held responsible for an auto accident in which somebody is paralyzed. You can be on the hook for that person’s medical expenses, lost income and care for the rest of his or her life. Injure more than one person, and the cost goes up exponentially.

If you don’t have liability insurance, or you’re carrying too little, most of what you own could be at risk. You could be sued and lose just about everything you’ve spent a lifetime working and saving to accumulate, plus perhaps your future earnings as well. All this because you wanted to save a couple of bucks on your premiums.

A smarter choice is to get enough liability coverage at least to equal your net worth. (Your net worth is everything you own minus everything you owe.) If your net worth is $250,000, for example, boost the liability coverage on both your auto insurance and your homeowners insurance to at least $250,000.

Source: MSN: 3 Costly Myths About Insurance

There are many ways to save with your homeowners insurance . That could help you choose for best insurance:

1. Car/Home Discount: Insuring your car and home with the same company often will give you a package discount. This is a good tool to use when shopping around. Usually the agent can tell you what percent the discount is for insuring your car and home together.
2. Deductible: Raising your deductible can lead to substantial savings. Furthermore, it is best to have a large deductible to prevent you from using your insurance for small claims since many insurance companies are now adding a surcharge to as little as one claim, and surcharges can range anywhere from 10-85% depending on how many claims you file during a given time period.
3. Home Security Systems: Special burglar alarms can prevent losses and therefore make your house less of an insurance risk. Most any type of security system will help give you a discount, but the type that directly responds to local police and fire departments are most likely going to give you the most discount.
4. Dead Bolt Locks: Most agents will ask you this, but check again to make sure you are not loosing a discount if you already have them. If you don’t, it is well worth it. Dead bolt locks are very inexpensive compared to the possible insurance savings, but make sure all of your doors have them because usually the discount only applies if there are dead bolt locks on every door.
5. Smoke Alarms: Preventing a fire loss is important to you and especially to you insurance company. Claims due to fire are very expensive and insurance companies often will give an additional discount for even one fire alarm permanently fixed in the home. Please, even if your company does not offer a discount, take the time to install one anyway.
6. Sprinkler System: Well, this may come into some additional cost, but if you have considered adding a sprinkler system (the indoor type) this is just another reason to do so. This would also be a something to consider if you are buying a new home or have plans to build or remodel.
7. Non-Smoking Household: Insurers are trying to cut costs too therefore are looking for people to insure that pose the least risk. Since a lot of accidental fires are caused by smokers, insurance companies are often giving a discount for non-smoking households.
To qualify you would probably need to have a home in which you don’t let anyone else smoke in the home in addition to the homeowners being non-smokers.
8. Organization Affiliation: Many companies offer a discount for being affiliated with certain organizations. These can range from credit unions, college sororities, or just having a certain credit card. Call your service center and ask them for a list of the organization affiliation.
9. EFT Payments: Many companies are now charging up to $5.00 or more for mail payments, but sometimes nothing if you choose to have payments automatically deducted. And sometimes the deductions can come from your credit card, so you don’t have to worry if the money will be in your bank account when payment time comes.
10. Credit Rating: Yes, a lot of companies are checking your credit and basing your policy on what is found. Make sure you check to see if your credit is in good shape, and if it is not, you may want to seek out companies who do not do credit checks.
11. High Risk Property Insurance: Check with your state insurance commissioner if you feel you may be getting turned down for homeowners insurance or are paying ridiculously high premiums because your property may be a high risk such as in a high crime area. Your state may have an insurance plan especially for your high risk property that other insurers may be charging you an extremely high premium because of the higher than average risk.
12. Additional Discounts: There are many additional discounts that may be available such as a reduced senior rate or being in a gated condo. Make sure to sit down with your agent on a regular basis, preferably right before your policy renews, to see if there are any additional discounts available to you

Majority of the citizens live in cities and towns, but what is the ideal home for each one of us? A survey in UK found out that majority of the people want a home in the countryside despite living in the city or in a town. America is more into the urban lifestyle, but a home in the countryside does sound like the ideal home even for city people.

From Mortgage Introducer UK: The key findings of a research by Halifax…

* People prefer detached houses - Half of people (50%) would prefer their ideal home to be a detached house.

* New builds are the most popular type of housing - Almost a quarter of respondents (22%) prefer new build properties.

* The countryside is the nation’s preferred location - When it comes to the location of their ideal home, almost one third (30%) of people would choose the countryside.

* Room for three – The typical house would have three bedrooms, with a lounge/ diner, study, kitchen/ diner, conservatory, playroom, family bathroom and toilet. Other key features would include central heating, double glazing, a fitted kitchen, modern bathroom, an enclosed garden, off-street parking, a garage and a home security system. Two thirds (66%) of people said a conservatory was desirable.

* Environmentally friendly features desirable – When considering their ideal home Brits don’t just want their surroundings to be green, they are also thinking about the impact of their home on the environment. Almost two-thirds (63%) cited environmentally friendly features as desirable whilst over half (56%) cited energy and fuel saving measures.

* The sitting room/ lounge and kitchen are the most important rooms in the ideal detached home – People in the ideal detached home would find the sitting room/ lounge (38%) and kitchen (37%) the most important room to them in terms of it being designed or decorated in a way they found appealing.

* Open plan living on the rise – People are spending more time in either lounge/diners or kitchen/diners than a kitchen or dining room which indicates a trend towards open plan living, especially when it comes to eating areas.

* Home is your office away from the office - The high proportion of people spending a lot of time in their study in the evening not only reflects the nation’s dependency on home computers, but also the tendency to work from home on a regular basis.

Do you think the US holds the same preferences for their ideal home?

In protecting a child’s possessions from theft, loss, and damage as he or she takes off for university, parents are urged to see if their home insurance policies can cover their child’s possessions as they are away from home. Insurance is generally not in the checklist of most parents, but the theft of their child’s possessions can be a problem.

Just recently, students from Kansas University experienced a break-in and two laptops were stolen. Not only was there a violation of the students’ privacy, the theft of the laptops was a blow to the students who needed them for their academics.

All parents should check the contents of their insurance and see if it covers the possessions of their child as they go to their selected universities. If there is none, they can inquire with the home insurance company and ask for additional insurance to protect their child’s possessions.

From My Finances UK:

Top ten items students plan to take to university:

1. Mobile phone (93 per cent)
2. iPod/MP3/MP4 player (74 per cent)
3. Laptop/computer (63 per cent
4. USB/memory stick (63 per cent)
5. Jewellery (49 per cent)
6. Television (47 per cent)
7. Camera (45 per cent)
8. DVD player/recorder (39 per cent)
9. Designer clothes (38 per cent)
10. Hi-fi (34 per cent)

No one likes paying for home insurance, but it’s a necessary evil for most of us. This doesn’t mean you have to pay through the nose for it though - try these 8 easy tips for cheaper home insurance and see how much you could reduce your premiums by.

- Shop Around

By comparing prices from several insurance companies, you’ll probably be able to reduce your premiums by a substantial amount. This may seem obvious, but research has shown that a surprisingly large proportion of people either just renew their current policy, or get only one or two quotes. Many insurance web sites will automatically compare dozens of policies for you, making this one of the easiest ways to reduce your insurance bill.

- Buy online

If you buy your policy online you can often get a discount of up to 20% on normal prices, because there are less administration costs involved and the savings can be passed on to you.

- Combine your buildings and contents policies

Many insurers will give you a discount if you take out both types of home insurance with them, and this usually works out cheaper than getting the two kinds of policies from different companies.

- Pay upfront

Although most insurers let you pay your premium in monthly instalments, many will charge interest for this. If you can afford to pay a full year’s premium in advance, then this will work out cheaper in the long run.

- Don’t claim for small amounts

Making many small claims can increase your insurance costs, as your insurer may see you as a greater risk and increase your premiums. You will also lose any no claims discount your policy has. Of course, you’re entitled to claim for anything your policy covers, but ask yourself if making a small claim is really worth the hassle and possible future costs.

- Voluntary excess

This is related to the last point. Insurance policies feature something known as ‘excess’, which basically means that the policy won’t pay out on claims below a certain value. On some policies, if you choose to raise your excess to a higher level, then your premiums will be lower.

- Increase your home security

Beefing up your home security with better door locks, window locks, outdoor lighting, and alarm systems can all result in lower premiums. Ask your insurer what you could do to get extra discounts.

- Reduce your cover

Many policies feature benefits that you might not need, such as cover for personal possessions while travelling, or ‘free’ legal advice. Look through your policy and see what parts of it you really need - by cutting your cover down to size you may be able to reduce your premium.

Article Source: http://www.answer-site.com

Nicholas Hunt is a financial writer for OneStop Finance. You can find a more detailed version of this article at Getting Cheaper Home Insurance, along with more information on home insurance providers.