The Basics

When it comes to automobile liability exposure, Florida has a no-fault system. Basically, every insured driver purchases the required insurance by law for THEIR own protection. This way, those who are paying for the coverage are going to be covered, regardless of fault.

Insurance Coverage Required under Florida Law

Personal Injury Protection (PIP) is an obligatory insurance coverage for automobiles that are registered and licensed in Florida. Non-commercial motorists are required by law to carry a minimum of $10,000 of PIP.  The PIP coverage will pay for 80% of injured car occupants’ medical bills and 60% of lost wages, no matter who was at fault.  

What is the use for the Medical Payments Coverage?

Medical Payments coverage applies no matter who is at fault and covers the cost of a reasonable and necessary medical care provided to you as the result of a car accident. The coverage is often limited to a specific time period following the accident (usually three years) and the amount of coverage you choose when you purchased the policy.

Why would I want this coverage?

As mentioned before, PIP only covers 80% of medical bills directly related to injuries sustained in a car accident. So, it is not going to cover 100%.  Then, what happens to the 20% not covered by PIP? You can use the Medical Payments Coverage to supplement that gap of coverage.  That way, you are better covered and regardless of who was at fault.  

Is it worth it? 

PIP and the Medical Payments Coverage will undoubtedly provide you with more money to cover for medical expenses related to an auto accident. It will give you peace of mind and security in a moment of vulnerability.  It is in an unfortunate scenario of being unprotected for those medical bills that one really wishes to have bought that extra coverage. Unfortunately, by then, it is “too little, too late” (and no, I am not talking about the JoJo song but here is the link in case you want to see it).

Remember, sadly, an auto accident can happen to anyone at any time.  You cannot control other people’s insurance coverage, financial situation or actions on the road.  But you can protect yourself, your assets and be best prepared.

With life’s uncertainties, and the risk of losing important things, we should protect our hard-earned assets. With Deer Insurance Agency by your side, you can have peace of mind, confidence, and trust that your insurance needs are well served and protected. Email us at hello@deerinsurance.com for a free quote customized for you. 

In our beautiful Sunshine State, you do not need Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist insurance coverage to be in compliance with state law. Then, why buy it? Why spend money (or the way I see it, “invest”) in that extra auto insurance coverage? Well, simple. Because it will protect YOU. You buy it to protect yourself from other drivers on the road.

And Here’s Why

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage pays for damages that you are legally entitled to recover for your bodily injury. In general, this coverage provides what you would received from the other person’s insurance company had that person been insured (i.e., in the case of an uninsured motorist that caused you the damages). This coverage may also protect you if the person who caused the damage does not have enough limits of insurance (i.e., in a scenario with an underinsured motorist that caused you damages). 

Basically, is an additional insurance coverage for your losses in the event that you are injured in a car accident and the other driver does not have insurance, or the other driver does not have an adequate amount of insurance to cover your bodily injury damages.  But really, what are the odds of that happening? Sadly, a lot! According to Insurify Insights (updated on May 12, 2020):

“Florida has the highest percentage of uninsured drivers out of any other state in the nation, with over one in four drivers operating a vehicle without insurance. Drivers in Florida face lesser fines for this infraction than drivers in other states, with fines at $150 for the first infraction. Other consequences of driving without insurance in Florida are an SR-22 for up to 3 years, registration suspension, license suspension, and confiscated plates.” [Our emphasis]

Also, as you can see in the graphic below, Florida is the state with the most uninsured motorists:

Our Recommendation

An auto accident can happen to anyone. Even the best drivers are not exempt of this risk.  You can control your driving but not everyone else’s around you. You do not know who is uninsured, underinsured or properly insured. But you can protect yourself. You can have peace of mind, protect your assets, and be prepared. So make sure you include Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage in your auto insurance policy because it is better to have it and not needed, than to needed it and not have it. 

With life’s uncertainties and the risk of losing what we value and care for, we should protect it! With Deer Insurance Agency by your side, you can have peace of mind, confidence, and trust that your insurance needs are well served and protected. Email us at hello@deerinsurance.com for a free quote customized for you. 

Oh My God!!! Can you imagine that? It would be chaotic. Thankfully, they are on their way to marriage soon so we don’t need to worry about that happening anytime soon. There’s no question their love and synergy have inspired many couples to actually get out of heir comfort zones and be a little more “goofy” and “playful”. Their social media posts with curiosities, daily workouts, family time, and “goofiness” have made them one of Hollywood’s top couples.

The question is, what could be worse than JLo and ARod breaking up? Many things, right. But one that could be devastating is actually losing your home to a disaster and not having the right insurance policy to recover from it.

Think about it, we live in Florida, a flood, hurricane, or tornado can change our life in seconds. Your homeowners insurance is one of the key elements to being ready and having peace of mind. All it takes is for you to make sure your homeowners insurance is reviewed and updated. If you have done so recently (in the last 2 months), GREAT JOB! However, if you have not, and you only been renewing your policy with your mortgage, please call your independent insurance agency and have them verify it and make the necessary changes, if needed. If you are currently NOT working with an independent insurance agency, CALL US. We would love to help you out!

Here are the 3 main things we will check with you:

1. House updates – have you done any renovations or updates? What about your roof, HVAC system, water heater, or plumbing?
2. Additions and alterations – have you changed anything around your house? How about a new gazebo for your backyard? Any new additions or alterations?
3. Household composition – have anything in your family changed? Do you have new pets? Have your kids moved out?

Oh really, that’s it? Yeap! Is that simple. Your home is the result of your efforts, your hard earned efforts. We would love to protect those efforts.

Today marks the beginning of hurricane season and everyone in our beautiful Sunshine State has to be ready. Whether you live in north, south, east, west, or central Florida, everyone should begin getting ready with their families. We always recommend that you start with your homeowners and flood insurance policy. Reviewing your policy is FREE and it can save a lot in the future.

At Deer Insurance Agency, WE CARE!

by Ariel Rivera, MBA, CIC, CPIA

Agency Principal @ Deer Insurance Agency

I got an idea, how about we all take some time to think about this thought. So, this morning I came across a Dave Hollis interesting thought that says “In the rush to return to normal, use this time to consider which parts of normal are worth rushing back to.” OMG, isn’t it true? We are all dealing with rapidly changing times where there is a “new” normal. But in reality, aren’t parts of the “new” normal awesome? We definitely think so!

Of course we miss sports, our co-workers, warm hugs, and social interaction. But there are many other things that we don’t miss. For example, traffic, excessive stress and rush, wild mornings, etc. To a certain point, life has given us an opportunity to regroup and value what we love the most: #family. So let’s take some time to appreciate where we are in this “crazy” journey, even if it’s not where we really wanted to be. Some say “it’s all about the process” (which we love), but right now we say “it’s all about the moment”. Enjoy the moment with your family and let’s keep praying for everyone affected by COVID-19, whether is due to illness, job loss, or excessive work and stress (like doctors and nurses). May God bless you all and let’s stick together to win this one.

There is no doubt that the outbreak of COVID-19 have changed our lives forever. But for small businesses, it may cause significant economic impact. All around the world we have seen the closing of businesses, specially small and large public ones like theaters, movie theaters, museums, sports arenas, etc. All this business closures and/or reduction in sales will always raise the question: What About My Business Interruption Coverage?

Now, by definition business interruption is: “Business Income Coverage — commercial property insurance covering loss of income suffered by a business when damage to its premises by a covered cause of loss causes a slowdown or suspension of its operations. Coverage applies to loss suffered during the time required to repair or replace the damaged property. It may also be extended to apply to loss suffered after completion of repairs for a specified number of days. There are two Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO), business income coverage forms: the business income and extra expense coverage form (CP 00 30) and the business income coverage form without extra expense (CP 00 32). Business income coverage (BIC) is also referred to as business interruption coverage.” Source: IRMI (International Risk Management Institute, Inc.)

As you can see, most business interruption coverage’s required that an actual damage to your premises (your physical business) occur due to a covered cause of loss (fire, theft, hurricane, etc.). Unfortunately, COVID-19 is not considered a “covered cause of loss” under the standard unendorsed Business Owners Policy (BOP), nor COVID-19 causes a direct physical damage to your premises (physical location), thus no triggering of coverage can happen. On some unique cases, or on some specific industries like hospitality for example, insureds can opt to buy endorsements to this coverage (specifically the Extra Expense part of the coverage), and add certain coverages like “Special Peril Business Interruption”, or “Communicable Disease” which usually gives them a low sublimit to this type of coverage. However, this type of endorsements are very rare to come around and need approval of the insurance carrier.

There is no question that this are sad times for business owners. Business interruption coverage is very complex and requires a high technical level of insurance knowledge. We recommend that all business owners consult their coverage with their insurance companies or agents to make sure what their options are. At Deer Insurance Agency, we support local businesses in our community and we encourage our clients, friends, and communities to please keep shopping local. Small businesses are the backbone of our communities and we will do our very best to support them. Stay safe!

IMPORTANT: Coverage analysis must be done based on the specific wording of an insured’s policy. Please consult with your insurance company or agent to verify your coverage.

About Deer Insurance Agency

Deer Insurance Agency is an independent insurance agency in Jacksonville, FL. Our goal is to provide our clients with the best insurance programs for their needs. As an independent agency, we get to work with multiple insurance carriers and identify the ones that best fit our client’s needs and the communities we serve.

By: Ariel Rivera, MBA, CPIA, CIC – March 24, 2020

As a consumer buying homeowners, renters, or auto insurance, you have 3 options:

1. Shop around for yourself.
2. Work with a captive agent (Geico, State Farm, etc.).
3. Work with an independent insurance agency and let them shop for you.

Which one is better? You guessed it right: working with an independent insurance agency. You see, the captive agent is a professional that ONLY works for ONE insurance provider. Now, what if that carrier doesn’t offer coverage for YOUR actual needs? What if you have two dogs and that carrier excludes animal liability on your homeowners insurance? Yeap, it’s crazy right. But the worst part is that it happens more than you think.

So, the question is: what are the benefits of working with an independent insurance agency? Simple, independent agencies have more freedom to offer plans that better fit YOU and YOUR needs, not the other way around. Being independent means that we get to work with different insurance carriers. We study and learn their underwriting guidelines to make sure we insure you with whoever fits best for you.

The interesting part about independent agencies, is that they have been around since the late 1800’s and we are businesses just like any other. We are active active members of our communities and schools, and we make sure we give our 110% for you. Our objective is to always make sure you are happy with the “insurance experience” and have the peace of mind you deserve. Are we perfect? Definitely not… but we sure try.

So, when your renewals come up, call us! We love to help!

I’m pretty confident that if you asked anyone who has ever owned a rental property you would get an overwhelming response that it’s not as lucrative or easy as they thought it would be. In fact, owning a rental property can be a major pain, and end up costing you a ton of money!

I certainly don’t mean to be a “Debbie Downer”, and I know that if it’s done right it can be lucrative, but from an insurance agent’s perspective, I don’t see a lot of people doing it right.

So you’re probably thinking, “Well Chris, you are an insurance agent. What do you know about real estate or rental properties? Why should I take advice from you?”

I’m not a real estate agent, and I don’t own a rental property. However, several of my friends/family/clients/co-workers own rentals, and because I insure a bunch of their properties, I’ve had a first hand account of the process, and I’ve learned what to do, and what not to do.

Continue reading →

I was recently asked this question by one of our Deer Insurance Agency clients, and thought I would share the answer here for our readers.

There are a lot of things that go into homeowners and auto insurance rates, one of them being credit. I’ve heard a lot of complaints from people who don’t like the fact that insurance companies use credit in their underwriting.

Some people have absolutely no idea that it’s used in the rate at all.

At the end of the day, there’s not much we can do about it though. Insurance companies have been using credit in their rates for decades, and that’s not likely to change.

By the way, insurance companies don’t pull your credit like a mortgage company or credit card company does. There is no negative impact on your credit as a result of an insurance company looking at it.

When I say “pull” what I mean is that the insurance company is doing what’s called a soft inquiry, which is not the same thing as having your credit pulled (hard inquiry).

When does credit play a role in insurance rates?
It’s important to understand that insurance companies don’t continuously check or monitor your credit. Usually, they only check it when you first get a quote and/or sign up with them in the very beginning.

This means that if your credit score increases (or decreases) your insurance company does not automatically know about it.

So, to my customers question of whether or not his increased credit score will lower his rates, the answer is not automatically.

What has to be done on our side as the agent is contact the carrier the insurance and ask them to do what’s commonly referred to as a “re-score”. This is when the insurance company can re-run the person’s credit (soft inquiry) to see if there is any positive bearing on the rate.

This isn’t something that the insurance company is going to let the agency do every single year, so it’s not worth even asking unless there has been a significant change in your credit score, and only you as the customer would know if that was the case.

If you’d like to get a better handle on your credit rating, it could be helpful to setup credit monitoring. We hope this was helpful! As always, leave us comment below if you have any questions.

Why do my auto insurance rates keep going up even though my car is getting older?  At Deer Insurance Agency, many of our clients ask this question so I would like to address it from a couple of angles.

First things first, even though it’s called car/auto insurance, it covers more than just your car. It should technically be called “auto-owners” insurance, similarly to how home insurance is actually called “home owners insurance”.

It’s important to understand that there are a lot of variables that go into insurance premiums, and with auto insurance, it’s no different.

The insurance company is much more concerned with you crashing into someone and causing them (or yourself) bodily harm, or death, than they are about your car. A car is a material possession which can be replaced.

A human life is not.

When is the last time you looked at your auto insurance policy?
If you look at it you’ll notice there are a lot of different coverages on your auto policy.

Bodily injury
Property damage
Un-insured motorist
Under-insured motorist
Medical Payments
Loss of Income
Funeral Expense
Loss of use
Rental Reimbursement

These are all things that you are covered for on your auto policy. How many of them have to do with your car?

None.

How many of them have a price next to them on your policy?

All of them.

Your car isn’t the only thing you’re being charged for on your policy
That’s because auto insurance covers far more important things than your car as mentioned above.

Let me re-phrase that: your car insurance rate isn’t just based on your car.

You’re not the only one…
It’s also important to understand that you are not the only person your insurance company insures. You are one fish in an ocean of other fish, sharks, and sea creatures, all who have different characteristics and risk profiles.

Insurance is all about spreading costs over a large number (risk pool) of people, which each person paying their fare share. That risk pool is constantly changing, and is impacted by a ton of different things, including the overall economic climate.

This means that you are sharing in the cost of millions of other people, many of whom may have poor loss history and/or credit.

That’s what insurance is though — sharing in the cost.

The next time your auto insurance rates go up, take a look at the big picture. Make sure you’re looking at ALL of the coverages, and corresponding rates.

Hope this helps!  If you would like to know more about Car Insurance be sure to visit our page dedicated to it.