Get Smart: Smart Home Upgrades and Your Homeowner’s Insurance

After the advent of the smartphone, it seems every device we use on a daily basis is becoming “smart.” Indeed, many in-home devices, including locks, security systems, and even thermostats are being upgraded into smart devices, pulling the average homeowner even deeper into the Internet of Things. While these devices can help secure your home, streamline your daily tasks, and save you money, transforming your home into a smart home may have some benefits for your homeowner’s insurance costs in the not-so-distant future.

State Farm was the first insurance company to offer discounts on home monitoring systems after they formed a partnership with ADT and Lowe’s in 2013. However, as the smart device market continues to expand rapidly, it is expected that many other companies will follow suit. With market analysts predicting that smart home devices will become mainstream by 2019, a number of agencies are studying their benefits for the average homeowner and determining how to reward them for investing in the technology.

Currently, one of the best-known smart devices is the Nest, a learning thermostat that connects with your mobile devices to monitor your behavior and adjust ambient temperature automatically, ultimately saving you a great deal of money. Smart devices can help optimize and connect many other areas of your life as well, with a great deal of progress being achieved in security systems, deadbolts and locks, and moisture and leak detection.

Each of these devices is designed to alert you to conditions that fall outside of the ordinary, giving you the ability to better protect your home and possessions. It comes as no surprise, then, that some insurance experts consider installing smart devices almost at the same level as installing storm shutters on your home. As technologies continue to develop, we are sure to see many more major steps in home guardianship that could give you big benefits for your homeowner’s insurance costs.

Keep up to date on the progress of smart home devices to see how you and your loved ones can benefit from connected systems. To learn more about how homeowner’s insurance is affected by technology, contact Corkhill Insurance at (407) 898-8891 today.