Understanding Insurance Policies

Three Purchases That Can End Up Increasing Your Home Insurance Rate

22 February 2016

Samantha Reynolds

In many cases, the purchases that you make for your home can help to lower your insurance rate. A home security system, carbon monoxide detectors and other security features can make your home safer and prompt your insurance provider to reduce your rate. However, there are other times that the purchases you make can actually have the opposite effect on your home insurance rate. The impact that these three purchases has on your home insurance shouldn't discourage you from buying them if doing so suits you, but it's important that you're aware of how your rate might be impacted.

Wood Stove Or Fireplace

There's no discounting the benefits that buying a wood stove or fireplace can add to your home. Either of these features can make your home feel cozy, lower your heating bills and possibly even be desirable to buyers if you plan on selling your home. The disadvantage to a wood stove or fireplace is the way that it affects your home insurance rate. Heating your home with wood means that you have a higher risk of a house fire, which your insurance provider will counteract by boosting your premium.

Trampoline

There's no disputing the amount of fun you, your family and your guests can have on a large trampoline. The concern with this recreational device, however, is that it can often cause injuries. More than 90,000 people across the country visit the hospital each year because of being injured on a trampoline. While there's always a risk that you or a family member will get hurt, a different type of concern is that someone who is visiting your home will injure himself or herself and then take legal action against you because the injury took place on your property. As such, insurance providers will often increase your home insurance premium when you purchase a trampoline.

Family Dog

Just like a trampoline, buying a dog for your family members to enjoy will provide plenty of happy memories. And, just like a trampoline, there's a concern that this purchase will elevate your home insurance rate. A dog that bites a visitor to your property could be the start of lengthy legal proceedings; to counteract this risk, it's customary for insurance providers to increase the rates for customers who purchase a family dog. There's more of a concern if your dog is an aggressive breed, such as a pit bull.

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