My house feels like a construction site. I’m certainly glad we have home insurance – you never know when you’ll need it. Unfortunately we needed ours thanks to one leaky pipe.

Thanks to how pipes are laid out in a two story home (especially one that is 30 years old) – and a second leak in the upstairs bathroom – the plumbers had to ‘test’ to see where the main leak was; the one that was flooding our basement.

First they tried the upstairs bathroom.

Nope. That wasn’t it. But they had to do damage to the bathroom vanity to get to the pipes. They also cut a hole in the linen closet to check the shower. Next? The kitchen directly underneath.

I wonder if my Keurig is big enough to hide that…?

That wasn’t it either. But, thankfully, they found a way to repair without any further cutting of drywall. But, we’d already been hit pretty hard. We ended up with 3 damaged walls, a horribly damaged/flooded basement, drywall and insulation. Between the plumbing service, water damage repair and drywall repair/repainting and a new vanity the bill wasn’t pretty.

Thank goodness for home insurance.

You definitely don’t want mishaps popping up while you are uninsured. No matter if it’s a neighbor’s tree falling on your garage or one, little leaky pipe – home insurance can the the difference between financial danger and just an annoying week of repairs.

Many people feel the idea of spending money every month “just in case” seems needless, it’s one of those things you don’t realize you needed until it’s too late. You can’t always count on the condition of your own home; a neighbor’s tree (or car) could easily crash into your house, a storm take out your deck or more. There are many damages you can’t afford to put off and pay a little at a time as well. Leaking plumbing, a disrupted foundation etc can all cost more to repair in the long run than if you had the funds to take care of it right away.

It is best to research in order to find the least expensive, but I don’t know many people who have time to be on the phone all day answering questions over and over. Luckily there are ways to find the best deal for your family without wasting time. First and foremost, understand how to group your insurance together for the best bottom line.

Most of us already have other types of insurance (car, boat even life insurance) and you may well be able to find a package discount or other perk. Contact your current insurance providers and let them know you’re in the market for a home insurance quote. Ask them if they have any offers for multi-policy plans to which you can be switched. More and more insurnace companies are branching out to offer different types of policies, and some may even offer a reduction on your premium(s) when you sign up. Not only is this more affordable than buying into different policies, but it saves time and stress when you only have to deal with one company. Wouldn’t you rather write one check each month than five different checks to five different companies and keep up with five different due dates?

Thanks to the internet you can save even more time and find insurance carriers online. Many sites offer instant, or at the least rapid, quotes for free. You save time and you could save money.

I don’t know what state our house (or our sanity) would be in right now if we hadn’t been able to rely on our insurance.  It may seem, right now, that you don’t need it. But don’t wait for something to happen and prove you wrong.