If you have a mortgage, the mortgage company requires that you have current homeowners insurance. But even if you don't have a mortgage, consider what you would do if a fire destroyed your home. Or what if a neighbor was injured on your property? These situations and more can be covered by your home insurance policy.

Unfortunately, most Americans aren't covered properly by their homeowners insurance because their insurance hasn't been updated in years to reflect the cost to repair and rebuild their home in a loss. If you have a business in your home, some provisions in your homeowners policy limit your coverage or prevent you from being covered for the business.

Making the most of homeowners insurance quotes can include the following:

1. Compare your current homeowners insurance rate to quotes from multiple insurance companies.

2. Include money-saving discounts when you get a quote for home insurance.

3. See why low house insurance rates aren't the only consideration when covering your home-based business.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get an online homeowners insurance quote

Insurance experts tell customers to shop around for the best deals on home insurance. Several websites allow you to get multiple quotes in one location with a single application. See how this process can save you time and money with one-stop shopping.

I recommend: NetQuote lets you get quotes for home insurance from hundreds of companies. You can also compare multiple homeowners insurance quotes with InsureMe.

Find the best homeowners insurance rate by including discounts

Get all the discounts on your home insurance that you're entitled to when you ask for an insurance quote. Some discounts can save you 20 percent or more on your policy. Take advantage of all the discounts you can.

I recommend: Watch the video from MSN Money to find ways to reduce your homeowners insurance rates. HomeInsurance.com has a quiz to help you save money on your home insurance by looking for ways you can save and making recommendations about what to do to get a better rate.

Make sure your house insurance rates include coverage for your home-based business

Many home insurance policies minimally cover or exclude coverages related to business. For example, most insurance policies only cover $2500 for business equipment kept in the home, but your needs may greatly exceed that figure if you have a loss. Find out whether endorsements to your current homeowner policy or a business policy will better suit your business needs.

I recommend: Check out the Insurance Information Institute, which has a video discussing insurance for your business and a checklist for your business needs. Then look at what's offered for businesses on your homeowner policy through Insure.com. See when you should consider a business policy rather than relying on your home insurance policy.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  If you had a loss in your home, it might be difficult to remember which items you had. To make the most of your homeowners insurance, take pictures in every room to prove what you have. Receipts, pictures and video tapes can help reconstruct your home or office in the event of a loss.

We all want the best homeowners insurance rate, but there is more to it than comparing homeowners insurance quotes.

Compare homeowners insurance from other companies with your current homeowners insurance rate, but be sure you are comparing apples to apples, since not all standard homeowners policies are created equal.

1. Getting a low rate may mean having a higher deductible or a lower maximum coverage.

2. Your insurance rates may go up when you update or add value to your home.

3. Bankruptcy may also increase your insurance rates.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Boost your security and credit rating to get lower rates

There are ways to keep your house insurance rates low. Increase your security by adding an alarm system, deadbolts and smoke detectors. Keep your credit score high as insurance companies will use your credit score to asses your risk value. Many times an insurance company will offer a discount if you include your cars and other property on your policy so consolidate your policies.

I recommend: MSN Money lists 15 ways to save on your homeowners policy. AnnualCreditReport.com provides free credit reports so you can monitor your credit score on a regular basis.

You'd better shop around

Shopping around for the best quote for home insurance is a good way to ensure you're getting the best deal. When you're getting the house insurance quotes, make sure you compare each policy point-by-point. Just because a rate is lower, doesn't mean you're getting the best deal or the best coverage. Also, if you already have homeowners insurance with another company, compare your old policy with the new quotes to see if you really are getting a better rate.

I recommend: If you're a member of the United States Military, USAA usually has lower rates than most other insurance companies. Free Advice allows you to locate agents in your area. To get more quotes on homeowners insurance rates, visit the 2Insure4Less website.

Get quotes online

Many insurance companies allow you to input your information for an online quote. This way, you only have to input your information once, but you'll receive quotes from multiple insurance companies that cover property in your area.

I recommend: In four minutes, Hometown Quotes will give you the best rates available for your area. Net Quote also offers quotes from multiple agents.

Renters need insurance too

Just because you don't own your home, doesn't mean you don't need a home insurance policy to cover your contents and any damage that may occur to the property caused by you. A renter's policy may be written by the same company that carries your auto insurance, or you may chose to get multiple homeowners insurance rates and quotes to make sure you're getting the best deal.

I recommend: Insure and Esurance offer quotes on renter's insurance.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Take inventory of your possessions. Photographing or video taping them is a good way to keep track.
• •  Keep the photos or videos, along with the appraisal documents in a fire-proof safe.
• •  Update your insurance from time to time. Property values go up, and you may accrue more valuables.

Home insurance protects you and your family from losses related to both the destruction of your home and legal liabilities. Protect your greatest asset with proper insurance. With current insurance rates skyrocketing, the temptation may be to reduce coverages or even drop insurance altogether. If you suffered a loss, think about where you would go and how you'd rebuild your life.

Make sure when you're shopping to get current homeowners insurance rates that you aren't sacrificing important coverage for a lower price. Especially when you run a business in your home, what your insurance company doesn't know can hurt you. In many cases, your business needs may be covered in a limited way or not at all on a basic homeowner policy.

Homeowners insurance rates vary based on your situation, but you can probably do more to keep your premiums down.

1. Find average house insurance rates and the coverage you need.

2. Get the best homeowners insurance rate by looking for discounts.

3. Save time with an online homeowners insurance quote.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get educated about homeowners insurance before you get a quote

A comparison of insurance rates in your area helps you to know if your quote is in the expected range. Keep in mind that one estimate showed that 67 percent of homeowners are underinsured and those who are improperly insured have 35 percent less coverage than they need. You should know what coverage you have and what coverage you need.

I recommend: The Insurance Information Institute provides a list of typical home insurance premiums by state. This list lets you compare your rate quotes with the local average costs. Then, take a look at the available optional endorsements that can help adequately cover you, courtesy of Homesite Home Insurance.

Look for discounts to reduce your current homeowners insurance rate

You can get the discounts you're eligible for by knowing what types of discounts are out there. Several websites can tell you what percentage of savings you're getting or can get on your home insurance rates.

I recommend: HomeInsurance.com provides a list of common discounts to help you save money on your insurance quotes. It also gives you typical savings percentages for each of these discounts. The HomeInsurance.com site also offers a calculator to make sure your home is insured for the proper amount. Allstate offers a list of home discounts and the percentage of savings.

Save time and money by getting a quote for home insurance online

You can save money by shopping around for insurance. Many Internet sites bring insurance companies together to create one-stop-shopping for you. Just fill out one application to get things started on your quote.

I recommend: InsureMe allows you to get quotes for home insurance from hundreds of companies. Answer Financial also offers comparison quotes from several companies.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Before companies give you quotes on homeowners insurance, they look at your credit score and your loss history. Check your credit and clean up anything that isn't yours or that's reporting incorrectly.

As is the case with any insurance quotes, being able to fully understand all of the terms used in a quote or policy document is a challenge. Because purchasing a home is a major life event, choosing the insurance coverage is also important.

Terms such as deductibles, actual cash value and other structures may cause some confusion when you are comparing quotes. However, you must ensure that you fully understand all of these terms before signing a new policy.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Deductible

The deductible is the amount of money you will have to pay for a claim before the insurance will cover the cost. For most homeowners insurance policies, this deductible is per claim and not per year. If you need to pay a lower amount for your homeowners insurance, consider raising your deductible.

I recommend: Foremost Insurance Group provides a glossary of common terms, including deductibles, you will find when getting homeowners insurance quotes. WiseGeek offers an in-depth explanation of deductibles and how they work.

Perpetual insurance

Most homeowners insurance policies have a termination date. On that date, the policy can be canceled or renewed. However, the price may increase at the time of renewal. Perpetual insurance doesn't have this termination date. When you get a homeowners insurance quote, ask about perpetual insurance instead of basic insurance if you plan on staying in the home for the rest of your life.

I recommend: You can find information on perpetual insurance on RateEmpire.com.

Other structures

When looking over a homeowners insurance quote, you may notice coverage for other structures. This coverage is for buildings and structures not attached to the house. Fences, detached garages, sheds and guest houses are all other structures.

I recommend: The Get Covered USA website offers information on the meaning of other structures coverage on a homeowners insurance policy.

All risks insurance

All risks insurance is coverage which covers any cause of damage not specifically excluded from the policy. For example, an all risks insurance policy that doesn't exclude earthquakes, floods or acts of God would cover the home if it was destroyed or damaged by a flood or earthquake.

I recommend: BusinessDictionary.com provides an in-depth explanation of all risks insurance.

Replacement cost vs. actual cash value

Replacement cost coverage on the quote means that the insurance company will cover your home and its contents for the amount that it will cost to replace the structure or contents without taking depreciation into account. Actual cash value takes depreciation of the home and contents into account when determining the replacement amount. Generally, replacement cost quotes are more expensive than actual cash value quotes.

I recommend: The South Carolina Department of Insurance website offers in-depth information about the ins and outs of homeowners insurance.

Personal property or contents coverage

Personal property or contents coverage is the amount that the insurance company will pay to replace all the contents of your home should it be destroyed by a covered peril or event.

I recommend: FreeAdvice has information about personal property or contents coverage included in a homeowners insurance quote.