Straight answers on quotes, coverage and claims for insurance in Tennessee and Florida. If your question is not here, send it over.
Send the short quote form or call, and tell me the basics of what you want covered. I shop it across the carriers I represent and come back with the options and the prices. For auto, home and commercial there are longer forms that collect everything up front so I can quote faster.
No. A quote is free and there is no obligation to buy. If the coverage you already have is priced well, I will tell you that.
No. Most policies I write now are handled by phone and email. You can start, compare options and sign without an office visit.
I am not tied to one insurance company. I represent several carriers and shop your coverage among them, so the recommendation is based on your situation rather than one company’s product line.
Enough to protect what you could lose in a lawsuit, which for most households means your savings, your home equity and your future income. State minimum limits are well below that. A common approach is to raise the liability limits on your auto and home policies, then add an umbrella policy on top.
Extra liability coverage that sits above the limits on your auto and home policies. If a claim goes past those limits, the umbrella covers the difference up to its own limit, usually starting at one million dollars. It tends to be inexpensive for the amount of protection.
Replacement cost pays what it takes to replace an item new. Actual cash value pays the depreciated value, so an older roof or older belongings are worth less at claim time. Replacement cost costs more up front and pays more when you have a loss.
No. Every standard homeowners policy excludes rising water. Flood is always a separate policy, through the federal program or a private carrier.
Flood, earthquake, normal wear and tear, insect or rodent damage, mold in most cases, and losses tied to neglected maintenance. Some of these can be added back by endorsement or a separate policy.
There is no such thing as full coverage. It is a casual phrase for carrying comprehensive and collision on top of liability. What matters is the specific coverages and limits on the policy, not the label.
Yes. Every licensed driver in the household should be on the policy, even someone who rarely drives, unless they are formally excluded. Leaving a driver off is the most common reason a claim gets denied or a policy gets re-rated later.
No. A quote does not touch your current policy, and insurance shopping uses a soft inquiry that does not affect your credit.
If you finance or lease a vehicle and it is totaled, gap coverage pays the difference between what you owe and what the car is worth. Without it, you can be left paying a loan on a car you no longer have.
Not always. Claims stay on your record for years and can raise your rate or affect renewal, sometimes by more than the claim pays. If the damage is close to your deductible, it is often better to pay it yourself. Ask before you file.
Use the policy service form or call. Send the vehicle year, make, model and VIN, or the driver’s name, date of birth and license number, plus the date the change should take effect. The change is not in place until I confirm it.
Send the certificate holder’s name and address and any wording the contract requires, through the policy service form. Simple certificates are usually same day or next day.
The roof is the most common source of large claims, so its age and condition drive both whether a carrier will write the home and what it costs. Many carriers want a roof under fifteen to twenty years, and an older roof can push you onto actual cash value coverage or, in Florida, require a clean four point inspection first.
Some carriers apply a separate deductible for wind, hail or a declared hurricane, often a percentage of the dwelling limit rather than a flat dollar amount, and separate from your all other perils deductible. On a claim it can be a much larger number than you expect, so check which kind yours is.
If you have a finished basement, probably. Sewer or drain backup is neither a normal homeowners claim nor a flood claim; it needs a water backup endorsement, which is usually inexpensive to add.
Homeowners covers a home you own and live in. Renters covers your belongings and liability in a place you rent. Landlord, also called a dwelling policy, covers a property you own and rent to someone else. Renting out a home insured as owner occupied can void a claim.
A Florida inspection that documents how a home is built to resist wind: the roof shape, how the roof deck is attached, the roof to wall connections and whether the openings are protected. Features that pass earn premium credits that can be significant. It is worth doing on almost any Florida home.
A short inspection of the roof, electrical, plumbing and HVAC that many Florida carriers require before writing an older home, often one thirty years or older. It confirms those systems are in serviceable condition. More on what it checks.
An HO-6 policy. The association’s master policy stops at the walls, so your unit’s interior, improvements and personal property need their own coverage, plus loss assessment coverage for your share of a master policy claim.
25/50/25: twenty five thousand dollars of bodily injury per person, fifty thousand per accident, and twenty five thousand of property damage. These have not kept up with vehicle values or medical costs, and one serious accident can pass them quickly.
Yes. By recent estimates roughly one in five Tennessee drivers is uninsured. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage pays when the other driver has no insurance or not nearly enough, and it is inexpensive.
No, it is excluded from a standard policy. West Tennessee sits near the New Madrid Seismic Zone, and earthquake coverage is available as a separate policy or an endorsement. It is worth pricing if you are in the western part of the state.
Middle Tennessee has karst limestone geology. Sinkhole and earth movement are generally excluded from a standard homeowners policy, though limited coverage may be available by endorsement. Ask if you are in a known karst area.
Often, yes. A large share of Tennessee flood claims come from outside the FEMA high-risk zones, and a policy in a low-risk zone costs far less. The 2010 Nashville flood is the reference point most people use.
Years of hurricane losses, roof claim litigation and carriers leaving the state have tightened the market. Roof age, the year built and prior claims matter more than they used to. A wind mitigation inspection, and on older homes a clean four point inspection, are often what make a policy possible.
Non-renewal is common in Florida. As an independent agent I can shop your home to other carriers, including new private companies and, if nothing else fits, Citizens. Start the day the notice arrives so there is no gap.
Citizens Property Insurance Corporation is Florida’s state created insurer of last resort. It covers homes that cannot find coverage in the private market. Eligibility rules apply, and if a private carrier offers a comparable price you are generally expected to take it. More on how it works.
If you are on Citizens and a private carrier offers to assume your policy within the state’s price threshold, you are usually required to move to that carrier. I can compare the offer to what else is available before you decide.
In much of the state, yes, even outside a high-risk zone. No homeowners policy covers rising water, storm surge is flood, and Citizens is phasing in a requirement that its homeowners policyholders also carry a flood policy. More on flood coverage.
Send it with the quote form or call, and I will answer it personally.