There are many benefits to having a smart home, from programming your lights to come on while you're on vacation to maintaining the perfect climate.

But there's one benefit that doesn't get talked about very much, and that's your homeowner's insurance.

It's no secret that as smart home technology becomes more advanced, more and more people are investing in integrated systems. While automating your entire home used to be a pipe dream, today's tech makes it a reality.  

With devices like smart doorbells, cameras, and even monitoring systems for your pipes, your home is more protected than ever, which means a potential drop in your home insurance.

Insurance prices reflect the likelihood of the homeowner having to file a claim. This chance is reduced when your home is protected by smart devices.

It is already fairly standard practice to see a drop in your insurance premiums when you install an integrated security system, but you can increase the potential of a deal when you install devices that monitor your water pipes for leaks that could cause a flood, or your air quality for dangerous gas leaks.

We predict more and more insurance companies are going to take smart home tech into consideration.

Mike Coffey, Director of Trading for British insurance company Swinton recently said, "It will be a slow burn to start with but when people start seeing the benefits come through, being widely publicized and reflected in premiums, then a significant portion of homeowners will choose to install smart home tech."

Part of the problem currently facing home owners and insurers alike is piecemeal devices that connect to a smart speaker, like Alexa.

Insurers are often left wondering what devices are truly compatible and which ones aren't. If you have a pipe monitor installed and it doesn't fully integrate with the other piecemeal devices, it may not perform correctly, which creates a problem for the insurance company if the monitor doesn't do its job.

This is one of many reasons it's better to have a fully integrated system like Savant than a system that's kludged together from various devices you found at Best Buy.

State Farm is known for offering discounts on premiums to those who have a fully integrated smart home system as opposed to those who have a piecemeal solution. 

Rachael Risinger, a spokesperson for State Farm, says devices to monitor for water leaks, gas leaks, and fires means fewer claims coming through to State Farm. It is estimated a smoke detector which automatically notifies the fire department could save an insurance company $35,000 in payouts to homeowners.

State Farm is far from the only insurance company who is interested in insuring smart home owners. Research company Accenture reported in 2015 that 22 insurance companies were running test programs to provide lower premiums for smart home owners.

As more insurance companies offer incentives to home owners who install integrated systems, the home owner will be able to shop around and find the best insurance company for their needs. 

If you're ready to have a fully integrated smart home, give us a call. 1-800-878-9705