Ten Ways to Reduce Your SC Homeowners Insurance
Written By: Staff ReportOctober 12th, 2009
There are several ways to cut down the expense of insuring your vacation home in Myrtle Beach. Here are some great tips from our local insurance agent, Scott Todd of Todd Insurance Agency, Inc.
1. Get a longterm customer discount – If you’ve had homeowner’s insurance with the same company for years, think twice before moving to a new carrier. You may be getting discounts for having that policy for a long time. Do the math and see if moving to a new company will save you money. (Many companies grant the same discount if you’ve been with a prior company for a long time)
2. Combine your vehicle, boat or motorcycle, and homeowners insurance policies and keep them with the same company. This is one of the biggest discounts you can have.
3. Try to purchase your home nearby to a “paid” or city fire station. Volunteer fire stations will help, but your best discount is being near a city organization. Try to make sure you have a fire hydrant within a mile of the house for even more of a discount.
4. Add a security system to your home. Make sure you keep well-maintained fire extinguishers, smoke alarms, carbon dioxide detectors, even an alarm for radon gas. Don’t forget to notify the agent when you’ve done this. Neighborhood Watch communities can help, too.
5. Don’t own a typically vicious dog or dangerous animal. Any type of dog like a doberman, rottweiler, or pit bull can increase your homeowner’s liability insurance. Resist the impulse to get that new “wild” cross-bred cat, too.
6. Keep pools, hottubs, or trampolines behind a locked fence, and maintain guard rails on any outside stairs. Many times these fall under city ordinances as well.
7. When figuring your appraised value, deduct the amount that would cover land only. You want to insure only the home or structure, not the rocks and grass!
8. If purchasing, choose a newer home. Most insurance companies charge more for older homes due to repair rates.
9. Stick to a well-known national insurance company and choose a higher deductible. You may find a lower rate with a fly-by-night company, but if you have to make a claim, they may have flown!
10. Keep a high credit score, or choose one of the insurance companies that don’t count your credit rating in your premium charges. If you’ve got excellent credit, find a company that rewards it. Taking the time to do a little homework can help your insurance expenses whether it comes to SC homeowners insurance or cheap car insurance in Myrtle Beach.
Also, if you’re in another state and have your car insurance with a company, you can insure your condo in Myrtle Beach with the same company and get the same multi-policy discount. Todd Insurance Agency, Inc is fully licensed for any city in the states of North and South Carolina. Todd Insurance can protect your car, home, motorcycle, boat, provide renters insurance, and much more..
Contact them for details!
Todd Insurance Agency, Inc.
1515 Hwy 17 South
North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582
(888) 288-8713 (Toll Free)
October is a busy month for events on the Grand Strand! Oktoberfest, Taste of the Town, and Halloween will give you plenty to do this month.
As many of you know, North Myrtle Beach used to be comprised of four separate cities, Crescent Beach, Cherry Grove, Ocean Drive and Windy Hill. When North Myrtle Beach was incorporated in 1968, the names still stuck with us. And now, in an effort to distinguish NMB from MB, each street sign along Hwy 17 is in the process of being color-coded with the name of the beach below the street name.
Although receiving unfavorable comments from locals on the story, the Sun News (Myrtle Beach’s leading newspaper) reported that the area had a 97 percent occupancy rate for the Fourth of July weekend, a number not reached since 2005. Furthermore, according to reps from the Clay Brittain Jr. Center for Resort Tourism at Coastal Carolina University, the Myrtle Beach area should have about a 90 percent occupancy rate for the rest of July.