2 Reasons Why Home Insurance Costs More For Homes In Rural Areas

If you compared the cost of home insurance for two identical homes, one in the city and one in the country, you would probably find that the one located in the city would be less to insure than the one located in a rural area. Insurance companies base policy rates on many factors, and one of these is location. Here are two reasons why it often costs more to insure a home in a rural area compared to a home located within city limits.

Distance From Nearest Fire Station

When you purchase home insurance, the agent will ask you dozens of questions about yourself and your home, including the address of your property. Your address itself will play a role in the amount you are quoted for home insurance. Your address places you in a certain community, and insurance companies factor in the safety of the community a home is in. If you live in an area that is full of crime, your rates may be higher than they would be if you lived in a safer area.

In addition, your address will tell the insurance company three other important details that will affect the cost of your policy:

  1. The distance to the nearest fire station
  2. Whether or not there are fire hydrants near your home
  3. The type of fire station that services your area

If your home is located within five miles of a fire station, you will qualify for a discount. Living this close to a fire station poses less of a risk than living far away from one, and an insurance company will charge you less for this reason. In addition, if you live in a town or city that has fire hydrants, you may also receive a discount for this. Fire hydrants offer easy access to water, and this can greatly reduce the amount of time it takes for a fire truck to put out a home fire.

The final aspect of this is the difference between the services offered by a city fire station versus a volunteer fire station. City stations hire fire fighters and often produce faster responses to fires compared to volunteer stations, and this is why your insurance company will want to know the type of fire station you would use if your home caught on fire.

Risk Of Wildfire

Secondly, your insurance company will examine the risk of wildfires in your area. As they consider this risk and the factors relating to the nearest fire station, they will give your home a fire rating. The ratings are from 1 to 10, and a rating of 10 indicates the highest risk a home could have in terms of fire issues. These ratings are issued by the Insurance Services Office (IOS), and many insurance companies use the services provided by this organization when calculating homeowner's insurance quotes.

The logic behind this is that if you live in a wooded area, there is a higher risk that your home could be destroyed by a fire. This factor alone can cause your rate to increase. If a forest catches on fire and your home is located near it, the fire could easily damage or destroy your home. Because of this, your rates will be higher if you live in an area that is considered risky for fires.

While you might not be able to control the location of your home and the services of the nearest fire station, there are a lot of factors you can control to help you keep your home insurance premiums down. This can include installing a home security system, smoke detectors, and carbon monoxide detectors. To learn more about the factors that affect the cost of home insurance or for additional reading, contact an insurance company today.


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