Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Title Insurance Premiums: What are You Paying for Today

If you are in the process of purchasing a new home, one of the issues that you either currently dealing with or will be doing so soon is title insurance. As you go about contemplating title insurance and other issues, you may be wondering exactly what you are paying for when you make the purchase of title insurance.

In theory, when you purchase title insurance you really are paying for two “things.” First, when you purchase title insurance, you are paying to have an independent title insurance performed to identify and deal with (if possible) any encumbrances to the title in question.

Second, when you do make the purchase of title insurance you are also protecting yourself against any defect to the title to the real estate in question that might not be discovered until after you close on a contract to purchase the property. In other words, the title insurance company will indemnify you for any losses that you might end up sustaining as a result of the encumbrance on or defect to the deed i question.

In considering these two primary elements of title insurance, the costs and expenses associated with these risks have not particularly reason over the course of the past fifteen years. However, with that noted, the premium costs for title insurance literally have skyrocketed over that same period of time. As you consider the premium associated with a particular title insurance policy you may have ended up wondering why these costs have risen so dramatically.

What many people do not realize is that title insurance companies and agencies have taken to spending what actually amounts to a somewhat significant amount of money on rewarding real estate agents and brokers, mortgage lenders and mortgage brokers to refer home buyers for the purchase of title insurance. In other words, a portion of a consumer's premium payment is being used to reward other individuals associated with the real estate sales and closing process for referring that consumers to a particular title insurance company (or agency) in the first instance.

Because of this potential relationship, it becomes ever more crucial for a person in the midst of buying a home to do at least a moderate amount of shopping around when it comes to title insurance. A consumer must understand the relationship that can exist between title insurance companies or agencies and individuals and businesses that very well may be associated with your real estate purchase and closing. In other words, it is vital for you to obtain independent information about a particular title insurance company or agency and a particular title insurance policy to make certain that you are obtaining the best deal.

One tool you will want to use in this regard is http://freetitlequote.com/. At this website, you can obtain the information you need in regard to title insurance policies, including free quotes on title insurance. With the help of this site, you will be able to make an informed and intelligent decision regarding title insurance.