The answer to this question is, “yes” and “no.” Let’s get the bad news out of the way first. If you’re deemed high-risk because of your financial history—poor payment records, cancelled policies, multiple mortgages and so on—there’s not much you can do in the near term to bring down your rates and get the lowest high risk home insurance. You’ll need to rebuild your reputation with lenders by regularly making payments on time, managing your debt and taking other actions to rebuild your credit. Likewise, you can’t do much about the location of your property and how that affects your high risk home insurance rates. But here’s the good news: You can reduce your premiums—maybe even move out of the high-risk category altogether—if you take reasonable steps. Here are some to consider. Reduce risks: Objects on your property such as dead trees pose risks to your home in a storm. Removing them may have a positive impact on your premium. Upgrade old systems: If your home has old wiring or outdated plumbing, bringing them up to standard can have a positive impact on your premiums. So can installing new siding and roofing that better protects your home or replacing old oil tanks and furnaces with new, high-efficiency systems. Be a good customer: Pay your premiums on time or set up automatic payment arrangements with your insurer. Also, don’t make unnecessary claims. These may keep you in the high-risk pool and raise your premiums. If you can fix an issue on your own for little expense, it’s best to take care of it yourself. Consider a no-frills policy: Say you’ve bought a fixer-upper. If you can find an insurer who’s willing to sell you a very basic policy, you may be able to save money while you complete improvements to your property. A no-frills policy will include features such as repairing fire or storm damage. But it won’t pay for extras such as the costs of accommodations if some event forces you from your home. Once you’ve taken steps to reduce your premiums, input the details of your home into our free, online calculator to compare high risk home insurance rates from the 50+ leading providers in Canada.