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Insurance Tips: 8 Ways to Keep Your Home Insurance Costs Low By Russ Castle, Special to <strong>The</strong> <strong>Spectrum</strong> All homeowners are look<strong>in</strong>g for ways to reduce home <strong>in</strong>surance costs. Costs cont<strong>in</strong>ue to rise and budgets get tighter and tighter with each pass<strong>in</strong>g year. Here are eight tips to reduce your home <strong>in</strong>surance costs. 1. Increase home security. Most homes are fitted with some sort of security device. To make the most of your home security discount, make sure that your home is fitted with deadbolt locks, smoke detectors, fire ext<strong>in</strong>guishers and burglar and fire alarms that are monitored. You do not have to have all of these to receive a discount on your home <strong>in</strong>surance, so even if you have only one or two, make sure that you ask for the sav<strong>in</strong>gs. 2. Keep your credit score as high as possible. While it would seem that a good credit score would have noth<strong>in</strong>g to do with <strong>in</strong>surance rates, <strong>in</strong> fact it does. Home <strong>in</strong>surance companies use your credit score as an <strong>in</strong>dicator of responsibility. <strong>The</strong> theory is that the more responsible the <strong>in</strong>dividual, the fewer claims they will have. So <strong>in</strong>surance companies are giv<strong>in</strong>g lower rates to those <strong>in</strong>dividuals with better credit scores. 3. Consolidate your policies. Most, if not all, companies that sell home <strong>in</strong>surance offer discounts for <strong>in</strong>sur<strong>in</strong>g your autos with them. <strong>The</strong>se discounts can sometimes save you up to 30 percent off of your total <strong>in</strong>surance bill. Plus, you get the added convenience of hav<strong>in</strong>g one agent for both your home and auto <strong>in</strong>surances. Senior Activities <strong>The</strong> Veterans Memorial Senior Center, 1455 Madison Ave., <strong>Redwood</strong> City, provides the follow<strong>in</strong>g activities that are open to the public dur<strong>in</strong>g the month of December. Friday Movies for Everyone Every Friday, 1:15 p.m. (unless otherwise announced) Come to the Veterans Memorial Senior Center <strong>in</strong> December for a free feature movie <strong>in</strong> our state-ofthe-art movie theater. Dec. 3: “Knight and Day” Dec. 10: “Love & Distrust” Dec. 17: “Eat Pray Love” Dec. 24: Christmas holiday — the center is closed Dec. 31: New <strong>Year</strong>’s holiday — the center is closed 4. Protect your home with updates. Discuss with your agent the possibility of receiv<strong>in</strong>g home <strong>in</strong>surance discounts for keep<strong>in</strong>g your home <strong>in</strong> good repair. Some home <strong>in</strong>surance companies will offer sav<strong>in</strong>gs for a new roof or for electrical, HVAC or plumb<strong>in</strong>g updates. <strong>The</strong> discounts are generally not enough <strong>in</strong> themselves to warrant a replacement, but if you needed it anyway, be sure to get the discounts when applicable. 5. Make sure you are not over<strong>in</strong>sured. Your home <strong>in</strong>surance coverage should not necessarily be what you paid for the home. Land values are calculated <strong>in</strong>to the f<strong>in</strong>al sales price and should be considered when <strong>in</strong>sur<strong>in</strong>g the structure. In others words, you cannot hurt the dirt. A good idea is to call local builders and ask them what new home construction cost per square foot is go<strong>in</strong>g for. Multiply that number by your square footage to f<strong>in</strong>d the amount that your home should be <strong>in</strong>sured for. Companies will not pay more than what it is go<strong>in</strong>g to cost to rebuild the home anyway, so make sure you are <strong>in</strong>sured correctly. 6. Stay away from low deductibles. <strong>The</strong> deductible is the portion of the claim that must be paid by you before the <strong>in</strong>surance company pays for the rema<strong>in</strong>der. <strong>The</strong> lower your deductible, the higher your premium will be. Deductibles can range anywhere from $100 to $5,000 or more. <strong>The</strong> majority of homeowners will carry a $500 deductible, but the sav<strong>in</strong>gs one can receive by rais<strong>in</strong>g the deductible to $1,000 can be significant, up to 20 percent. It doesn’t take too many claim-free years to make up the difference between the two deductibles, but remember, you A Happy Psychological Recipe for a Stress-Free Holiday Season Thursday, Dec. 2, 11 a.m. Free Carol Tyler, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist serv<strong>in</strong>g the senior community, will share easy, time-tested tips for send<strong>in</strong>g holiday stress and “the blues” out the door! Def<strong>in</strong>e and re-envision your own goals for this holiday season and look forward to a fruitful and peaceful new year. Gift Bag Assembly Monday, Dec. 6, 9:30–11 a.m. Celebrate the holiday season by help<strong>in</strong>g seniors throughout our community. Volunteers are needed to assemble gift bags that will be delivered to homebound seniors. <strong>The</strong>re will be complimentary coffee, hot cider and breakfast goodies for all those who volunteer. <strong>The</strong> Dresses for Africa project will be <strong>in</strong>cluded <strong>in</strong> our annual holiday gift-giv<strong>in</strong>g this year. If you would like to volunteer, please call Christ<strong>in</strong>a at 650-780-7343. should never raise your deductible to a level that you could not afford to pay. 7. Ask your home <strong>in</strong>surance agent. Most of the time, an agent will make sure that you are receiv<strong>in</strong>g 100 percent of the home <strong>in</strong>surance discounts that you qualify for, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. Some <strong>in</strong>surance companies have discounts that others do not. Some offer discounts that most people would never dream of, such as 55 and retired, nonsmok<strong>in</strong>g, military service, law enforcement and s<strong>in</strong>gle parent discounts. 8. Don’t be afraid to shop around. Home <strong>in</strong>surance shopp<strong>in</strong>g is easy. Insurance shopp<strong>in</strong>g onl<strong>in</strong>e is even easier. Companies like ours at Castle Insurance Agency (yes, I am biased) have given you the ability to get multiple home <strong>in</strong>surance quotes by contact<strong>in</strong>g one office. It takes less than five m<strong>in</strong>utes to complete. Also be aware that not all <strong>in</strong>surance companies are created equal. <strong>The</strong>re are some bad ones out there, but most, at worst, are pretty good. Gett<strong>in</strong>g the best price is great, but check up on the company offer<strong>in</strong>g you that price at reputable <strong>in</strong>surance rat<strong>in</strong>g sites like Moody’s (moodys.com) or A.M. Best (ambest.com). Editor’s note: This article was written by Russ Castle of Castle Insurance Agency, a licensed and experienced <strong>in</strong>surance resource center fully prepared to help you navigate the process of chang<strong>in</strong>g or ga<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g a policy. If you need <strong>in</strong>surance help, call them at 650-364-3664. Holiday closures <strong>The</strong> Veterans Memorial Senior Center will be closed Thursday and Friday, Dec. 23–24, for the Christmas holiday and Thursday and Friday, Dec. 30–31, for the New <strong>Year</strong>’s holiday. <strong>The</strong> VMSC wishes everyone a very happy holiday season and a safe and happy new year. To learn more about the Veterans Memorial Senior Center, call 650-780-7270. <strong>Redwood</strong> City Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department provides recreational facilities and activities for all ages and <strong>in</strong>terests, and supplies build<strong>in</strong>g and custodial services for city build<strong>in</strong>gs. <strong>Redwood</strong> City Parks also operates the Veterans Memorial Senior Center and the Fair Oaks Community Center, provid<strong>in</strong>g social, educational and cultural activities, as well as <strong>in</strong>formation, referral and counsel<strong>in</strong>g services to persons liv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> <strong>Redwood</strong> City and neighbor<strong>in</strong>g communities. <strong>Redwood</strong> City Parks is more than you th<strong>in</strong>k! Its website is at www.redwoodcity.org/parks. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Spectrum</strong> 29