 TITLE: Does Filing a Home Insurance Claim Raise Your Rates? CONTENT: Ways to Lower Your Home Insurance Premiums\n------------------------------------------\nIf you need to file a claim and are worried your rates will go up, there are steps you can take to save on insurance. Consider increasing your deductible or bundling home and auto insurance. You can also make safety improvements such as removing dry brush near your home if you live in a fire-prone region, installing a security system or upgrading old plumbing. According to Consumer Reports, these actions could potentially save you 6% percent or more on insurance premiums.\nImproving your credit-based insurance score may also help keep your rates down. While this score is different from credit scores used by lenders, it takes into account many of the same factors, such as your history of on-time payments and your credit utilization ratio. Check your credit score; if it could use improvement, your credit-based insurance score probably can too. Reducing debt, bringing past-due accounts current and paying your bills on time can help raise your scores—and possibly lower your premiums. END