Just because you’re paying money for various insurance policies, it doesn’t mean that you can’t be earning something back. By using a few smart tricks, you can get the best deals and ease your wallet.

Keep an Emergency Savings Account

By not relying on your insurance policies for every single emergency that crops up, you can save money. The key is to keep a stash of cash in an emergency savings account for such rainy days. Make sure that you deposit some money into it on a regular basis so that it will provide enough of a cushion should you stumble into difficult times, enabling you not to claim from your insurance company if you can rather afford to weather the storm.

Understand Your Form of Coverage

Make sure you are not paying to insure yourself for the same thing twice. For instance, you might have a towing service on your car insurance but also be paying an extra fee for AAA membership. The two clash, so rather cancel one in favour of the other and save some money. It helps to go through your policies once a year to remind you of what your insurance is covering and if you really need all that’s being offered.

Stick to the Same Insurance Company

It’s wise to get more than one insurance policy from the same company as this could possibly lead to discounts. You could also get discounts for other reasons, such as by making your payments electronically instead of by sending a check, so ask your insurance company about these instead of missing out.

Remember: Prevention is Better Than Cure

Of course, looking after what is insured is valuable as it will prevent you from having to use your insurance policy. For instance, look after yourself with a healthy lifestyle and you won’t need to incur medical bills; send your car in for regular services and this will minimize the risk of something going wrong with it. You can prevent a lot of the problems that arise and try to sneak into your life just by caring for yourself. This will also allow you to gain affordable insurance. Even if you have undergone a serious medical condition, such as a heart attack, being committed to a healthy lifestyle will make a positive difference to your rates.

Get a Higher Deductible

Your deductible (otherwise known as the amount you have to pay for expenses before your insurance will cover costs for you) should be higher because it will lower the premium cost with which you’re saddled. Just check out this calculation to see how much you can benefit from a larger deductible: if you increase your deductible from $250 to $1000, you could earn up to 20 percent savings in a year.

Pay Annually instead of Monthly

It’s not always easy to shell out a large amount of money in order to settle annual premiums, which is why you might stick to your monthly costs. But if you can make a push to do it, it can save you money. There are options to pay yearly or every six months which could help you save a bit of cash on your premiums while also making you feel that you have one less thing to worry about.

Go ‘Term’ When it Comes to Life Insurance

Life insurance is the most important insurance policy to have if you have a family. You’re not guaranteed that something won’t happen to you, so you want to be sure that your family will be looked after if they don’t have you around. You can save on your life insurance policy by choosing a term life insurance policy instead of a permanent one. What’s great about a term life insurance policy is that it will insure you for a specific amount of time (such as 15 or 20 years, for example) with a fixed premium and fixed death benefit, while preventing you from having to make payments for the rest of your life. Start off your search by researching what is basic life insurance? You can find out if it is a suitable policy for you, or if a more specific term one would be better suited.

Affordable insurance doesn’t have to remain a daydream. By following some essential tips, such as those above, you can gain cover without breaking the bank.