The Perfect Shelter: Honolulu Insurance
For many, Honolulu is the perfect vacation spot. Waikiki Beach draws millions of tourists all year long. Pearl Harbor is a huge draw, as millions more trek to the USS Arizona Memorial. And special events pull in even more people; over 20,000 attend the annual Honolulu Marathon. For locals, it’s an entirely different story. Sure, you might head over to the Arts District and your favorite Chinatown restaurant, but really your life–and your home–is your own Honolulu: a place of shelter. If you want to preserve it, Honolulu insurance is a good place to start.
Your Honolulu Home
At the outset, your Honolulu insurance quotes for a home policy will be determined by the size of your house, its distance from the fire department, and certain background characteristics of your own, such as insurance history and credit score. Hawaii home insurers want to know how safe your home is from common dangers, such as fire, as well as how dependable you can prove you are to make payments. Generally, Honolulu residents pay about $776 each year for a home insurance premium. If you invest in your house–a sturdier roof, newer wiring–insurers will usually recognize the increased safety of your home and offer better Honolulu insurance quotes. It’s also worth looking into coverage for earthquake and volcano damage, which will not fall under any standard home insurance policy. Fortunately, in areas with high likelihood of those disasters, the government often helps defray some of the cost so that these policies are affordable. The only way to know is the same as learning about discounts: ask multiple insurers about their offers.
Aloha State Law
Before you head out to Town for dinner, or even to the nearby grocery store, make sure you’re obeying state law, which requires every driver to purchase a minimum amount of Hawaii car insurance: bodily injury liability of $20,000 per person, up to $40,000 per accident; $10,000 of property damage liability; and $10,000 of personal injury protection, designated for “reasonable and necessary” medical expenses for you and your passengers. Coverage for uninsured/underinsured drivers is optional, but definitely recommended; a small amount of this coverage usually won’t drastically change your Honolulu insurance quotes. If you get pulled over without the minimum coverage, you’ll receive a citation, fine, and have to get up your plates and registration until you buy a policy. And with this lapse in coverage, your next auto policy will cost a lot more.
Addition for Subtraction
The minimum is good to know as a starting point, but there’s a good chance you’ll want more enhanced coverage than that. If so, think about ways in which you can lower your Honolulu insurance quotes without spending too much money. Lowering your mileage is a failsafe. If you add a bus pass–and TheBus system has been recognized as “America’s Best Transit System”–you’ll subtract miles and cost. If you add a car alarm, you’ll subtract more cost. And you can add extra drivers to your policy. For a family, this can be a huge help, particularly with teenage drivers, who are otherwise very expensive to insure. But even adding a spouse will help. For a 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix driven daily to work, a 35-year-old man will pay $604 a year for the state minimum. That’s to cover himself. For his wife, and her 2004 Ford Focus, his premium goes up to just $885 for both drivers.
More Additions
You can also add a home insurance policy to your car insurance (or vice-versa). As many people in the Crossroads of the Pacific have discovered, the decision to combine coverages under a single policy can save several hundreds of dollars. Adding a health or life insurance policy makes each more affordable, too. Take the time to really look at what different insurers are offering. If you don’t have time, use NetQuote.com for free. You can compare Hawaii insurance quotes–and save tons of money–without much effort at all. And that’s pretty comforting.
