When you rent your home, you don’t need to get home insurance. That coverage is for the home’s owner to carry. However, you do need to have renters’ insurance. This works very differently from home insurance in some ways, but it also includes similar coverage types. If you are a renter and in need of renters’ insurance, call us at Express Insurance in Longwood, FL.

It Protects Your Belongings

Like home insurance, renters’ insurance comes with coverage for all of your belongings inside your home. It protects them against covered incidents like inevitable accidents, calamities, and disasters. When a covered incident happens, and your belongings are ruined, the policy can pay for them so that they can be replaced. It’s important to have this coverage to protect what you own so that you aren’t left with anything after a significant incident that ruins your possessions. 

It Protects Your Liability

Even though you aren’t the property owner, you are still responsible for what occurs there. If someone were to come into your rental and have an accident that left them with injuries, you could be liable for paying for those injuries. With renters’ insurance, the policy would pay for those injuries so that you wouldn’t have to. 

It Protects Your Quality of Life

If an event should significantly damage your rented home, your renters’ insurance can pay for you to live elsewhere for the duration of the repairs. This is important for those who can’t afford to find a temporary home while theirs is being repaired. 

Get Your Renters’ Insurance Policy

If you are renting, it’s always essential to have renters’ insurance. Most landlords today even require it. Call Express Insurance in Longwood, FL to get started with a policy.

     

Homeowners insurance covers your residence and its contents, such as furniture, electronics, and collectibles. Every homeowner needs to have insurance. Condo residents are covered under the same condo insurance policies as the other residents in the building. You may have a specific policy for your property inside.

Some building management companies provide a package of insurance coverage for the building, including condo insurance for the residents. For expert advice in Longwood, FL, contact Express Insurance. 

How Condo and Homeowners Insurance Vary 

Condo owners usually buy condo insurance to protect their investment, while homeowners insurance protects your primary residence. Condo owners may purchase landlord’s insurance to protect against damage or loss to the building caused by tenants, guests, or other third parties. 

Some condos may also come with built-in coverage like building warranties or maintenance contracts. While everyone should have insurance, not everyone needs or can afford homeowners insurance. For example, if you own your home outright, have enough savings to cover any repairs, or have significant home equity, you do not need to purchase homeowners insurance. 

You are responsible for your home, its contents, and any belongings in the home and can protect yourself from financial ruin by putting your home in an irrevocable trust with a family member or close friend. 

The cost of homeowners insurance can vary greatly depending on several factors, including where you live, your credit history, and your risk factors. Reducing your risk factors may help you qualify for a cheaper policy. For example, staying current on your mortgage and reducing your debt may reduce your risk factors and result in a lower-cost homeowners policy. 

To protect your investment in the building, condo owners may purchase strata insurance. Condo owners may purchase coverage for the unit itself, the structure, the common areas, and the personal property inside the unit. 

While condo owners may feel an affinity for their community-based counterparts, there are significant differences between the two types of coverage. In most cases, condo owners can’t use their homeowner’s insurance to cover their condo. 

Homeowners’ insurance only covers the value of your home, while condo insurance covers your belongings inside and outside of the unit. Condo owners typically purchase a policy that covers their unit (or "unit-owner"), not the building. Homeowners insurance typically covers your home and its contents (e.g., furnishings, personal belongings, etc.). 

Ending Words 

Condo insurance provides coverage for things typical of a condo, like a swimming pool, or a common area, like a lobby or parking garage. It may also include coverage for a unit if it is deemed a common area. 

On the other hand, besides covering your home & possessions, homeowners insurance also covers your household. Consult Express Insurance in Longwood, FL, with your inquiries.

When running a business venture, you need to take calculated risks as well as mitigate prevailing risks in the business environment. Without a sound risk mitigation strategy, you don’t need many catastrophes to bring your business down. One significant threat is enough to see your hard-earned investment go down the drain. Luckily, having the right mix of commercial insurance policies can form formidable protection for your business.

Express Insurance of Longwood, FL gives must-have insurance policies to see your business run for many years to come. 

Must-have Commercial Insurance Policies

Worker’s comp insurance

Since your employees can get hurt while at work, you need an insurance policy to cater to the injuries when they happen. Worker’s comp insurance covers medical costs, ongoing care, and partial loss of wages for work-related illnesses and injuries. Without this coverage, you will have to cover these expenses from your business coffers.

General liability insurance

While it’s not mandatory in Florida, every business must have this coverage. Liability insurance protects you when accused of property damage, bodily, and advertising injury. Since liability claims can be prohibitive, your business must have sufficient liability coverage to withstand the storms of liability claims when they knock on your door.

Property insurance

Do you own buildings, inventories, or computers? Investing in property insurance isn’t an option. Property insurance compensates you when losses and damage occur to your properties. Yes, property insurance won’t prevent the perils, but it ensures you don’t start from scratch.

Cyber liability insurance

With an upsurge in cyberattacks, your business can be a great mess if you don’t have a safety net when data breaches occur. Cyber liability insurance lessens your financial burden when hackers manage a successful attack.

Getting the right mix of your commercial insurance policies is crucial for survival. Want to protect your Longwood, FL with business insurance? Please contact Express Insurance to have the conversation started.

Losing the assets you have accumulated in life is the last thing you want. Thankfully, if you have umbrella insurance from Express Insurance in Longwood, FL, you can protect your assets from liability claims and lawsuits. Unfortunately, umbrella insurance is one of the most little understood coverage. Today, we discuss 4 facts you need to know about umbrella insurance. Let’s explore.

Umbrella insurance is ideal for almost everyone

One of the most peddled misconceptions about umbrella insurance is that it’s only suitable for the super-rich. While umbrella insurance is ideal for high net-worth individuals, anyone earning livelihood needs umbrella insurance.

Given that anyone can be sued in America, investing in umbrella insurance is the safest way to safeguard what you own.

Provides high and broader coverage

Umbrella insurance not only boosts your liability coverage but also broadens it. How? Umbrella insurance covers you against liability claims not included in other liability coverages. For instance, umbrella insurance covers you against libel, false arrest, and slander that aren’t covered by other conventional liability coverages.

It’s super-affordable

You might think that a coverage policy protecting your assets worth millions of dollars should be super-expensive. You’re mistaken. Umbrella insurance is quite affordable. Umbrella insurance is surprisingly affordable because it rides on existing policies and only takes effect after the underlying policy has been exhausted.

It covers you anywhere in the world

Unlike other insurance plans limited only to America, umbrella insurance doesn’t have geographical restrictions — it covers you anywhere in the world, except for cars and homes you own in those respective countries.

Are you shopping for umbrella insurance in Longwood, FL? If yes, please make Express Insurance your partner for all your umbrella insurance needs. We will give you the ins and outs of umbrella insurance and recommend a policy that protects your assets and future income.

Many people who rent know they don’t need to worry about responsibility in the event an unexpected event occurs and results in the need for property repairs. However, to ensure your personal possessions are covered, you will need to invest in renters insurance from an insurance agency like Express Insurance, serving Longwood, FL. Here are a few frequently asked questions regarding renters insurance.

What Does Renters Insurance Cover?

Renters insurance is specifically designed to cover your personal possessions from an assortment of covered perils, such as falling tree branches, high winds, and fires. Renters insurance also covers your belongings against vandalism, theft, and other forms of criminal activity. In the event your personal items suffer damage or are completely destroyed, your insurance company may pay for the repairs or replacement of the item.

Renters insurance includes liability coverage that will protect you from legal action in the event you cause damage to someone else’s property or someone suffers an injury while on your property. 

What Does Renters Insurance Not Cover?

Earthquakes and floods tend to be excluded from renters insurance coverage. Because of this, especially if you currently live in a high-risk area, you will want to purchase the necessary additional coverage. In some cases, depending on the items that you are insuring, you may need to increase the coverage to ensure your belongings are properly covered in the event of a disaster.

How Much Coverage Is Needed?

In order to determine how much renters insurance coverage you need, you need to create an inventory list of your belongings. While this sounds overwhelming and time-consuming, it is necessary. In addition, there are many websites and phone apps out there that will make the entire process much easier for you. 

When you have questions or need to invest in renters insurance, you can rely on the professionals at Express Insurance, serving Longwood, FL.

Owning a company in Florida comes with plenty of responsibilities, and having the right commercial insurance is one of them. There are two types of commercial insurance that many businesses in the state are required to have. In addition to those, there are several useful types of commercial insurance, such as business owner’s insurance and cyber insurance, that can be highly beneficial to your company. If you need commercial insurance policies, give us a call at Express Insurance in Longwood, FL.

Workers’ Compensation Insurance

Different states have different regulations for this type of commercial insurance. In Florida, you are required to have it if you have at least four employees, and it doesn’t matter whether they are part-time or full-time. This insurance pays for the medical bills and the lost wages of an employee after they suffer an injury at work or get a work-related illness there. This is an important protection for workers, but it also protects your business from having to pay massive medical bills after an on-site accident. 

Commercial Auto Insurance

If your Florida business owns a vehicle, that vehicle must have a commercial auto insurance policy. There are specific amounts mandated by the state for the minimum amounts of protection you must have. However, those amounts are extremely small, and it’s highly recommended that you get more coverage to protect yourself and your business. This insurance must include coverage for property damage liability and for personal injury protection. If you have a business that often uses a vehicle of yours, but the business doesn’t actually own it, there is a different type of insurance that you should get for it. It’s called hired and non-owned, and it will protect you better than a personal policy that may not payout if the vehicle was engaged in work tasks. 

Get Your Commercial Insurance Policies

If you own a business, it’s important to have the commercial policies you need to protect it. Give us a call at Express Insurance in Longwood, FL.

Umbrella insurance coverage in Longwood, FL offers solidified additional liability protection. As a Longwood FL resident, have you ever thought about what could happen if a high magnitude calamity struck in Longwood, FL and you have depleted the prevailing policy limits of other underlying coverages like home and auto? Regrettably, many residents bear the notion that umbrella insurance is only for the rich. Contact us at Express Insurance situated in Longwood, FL today. Our dedicated team will help you forge strong coverage to guard your hard-earned assets in today’s litigious society.

Is umbrella insurance mandatory in Florida?

Umbrella insurance is not mandatory in Florida, but it’s prudent to acquire one, particularly if you own assets to protect them from a lawsuit. Umbrella insurance is a supplemental coverage designed to protect you beyond existing limits and coverages of other primary policies. You may be owning a home, boat, or auto insurance, but they can only safeguard you up to a certain limit. In the case of substantial claims, these coverages can get depleted, compromising your assets.

 Types of umbrella insurance coverages

Bodily injury liability coverage: It safeguards you from bodily injuries you propagate to other parties when you are found guilty. These impending expenses consist of medical bills or liability claims that can culminate from:

• A severe auto accident where you are legally responsible
• When a guest in your dwelling accidentally slips or falls

Property damage liability coverage: It reimburses the cost of damage you propagate to another person’s tangible property. It entails the cost of damage to vehicles and other property due to an auto accident where you are legally responsible.

Owners of rental unit coverage: It shields you from impending liability you may encounter as a landlord, such as your tenant’s pet biting someone, and you are deemed responsible for the injuries

Are you looking for outstanding umbrella insurance coverage in Longwood, FL to enhance your liability coverages when your other policies run out? Call or visit us at Express Insurance, and our agents are looking forward to helping you with your insurance needs.

Those in Longwood, FL do have coverage for hurricanes within their renter’s insurance policy. However, the amount of coverage and full availability does depend on several factors. For example, your policy should cover the items inside the structure, while your landlord should have an insurance policy to cover the building’s structure. 

For help determining the amount of hurricane coverage available, call our specialists at Express Insurance. 

Renters Insurance Coverage

A renters insurance policy generally covers the contents of an apartment or rental home. Some policies also cover items stored in a designated storage unit. This type of insurance only covers what is inside the dwelling and not the structure. Your landlord is the one responsible for carrying insurance on the structure. 

Hurricane Damage Coverage

If an insurance policy covers you depends greatly on the damage and the cause of it. For example, hurricanes have damage-causing elements, such as wind, hail, and lightning. Damage caused by these elements would be covered under a renters insurance policy. However, unless there is flood coverage within the policy, you may not be covered in the event your rental unit becomes flooded during the hurricane.

Should your personal belongings become damaged during the hurricane, your renter’s insurance policy should cover the replacement costs. Additionally, if the rental unit becomes inhabitable after the storm, you may receive additional living expenses to find a new place to live. 

Evacuation Expenses

Sometimes a hurricane prompts evacuations in the area. Generally, renters insurance does not cover evacuation expenses. However, some insurance companies include prohibited-use clauses in their policies, which may help cover some costs associated with a forced evacuation. 

Many tenants opt not to get renters insurance, but they could lose all of their items inside their rented unit when disaster strikes. Do not let this happen during hurricane season in Longwood, FL. Contact Express Insurance today for additional information about renters insurance and hurricane coverage. 

Getting condo insurance is an important responsibility that you have when you own a condo. These policies protect you against an array of things that can go wrong. If you are buying a condo and need condo insurance, contact us right away at Express Insurance in Longwood, FL. 

Liability Coverage

One type of condo coverage is one that people don’t think about when it comes to their condo. Liability insurance for condos is just as important as it is for houses. It is a type of coverage that comes in handy if someone were to get sick or injured while in your condo. This coverage pays for the medical bills from an illness or injury that happens there, and it’s included in virtually all condo policies. 

Dwelling Coverage

Another part of your condo policy protects the dwelling itself. While the outside of the condo is not your responsibility and must be insured by your condo board, the inside is insured by the owner. This coverage covers major damage being done to the inside of the property. If there were to be an accident, calamity or disaster that causes major damage, you know it will be taken care of when you have this coverage. 

Possessions Coverage

Another type of coverage you get from your condo insurance is protection for your belongings. This coverage type is vital for helping you to rebuild your normal life after a serious incident has ruined or destroyed your things. It can help you get things back to normal by replacing many of the items you owned. 

Condo Coverage

Every condo owner needs condo insurance. If you don’t have your policy yet, call us today at Express Insurance in Longwood, FL.

Umbrella insurance is liability insurance that applies to liability claims against you that are larger than those covered by your primary home and auto insurance policies. It is not a policy that is required by law in Longwood, FL.  However, Express Insurance experts advise that you purchase this coverage to provide for those unpredictable moments when you find yourself in a situation where the liability costs far exceed the limits covered in your primary insurance.   You qualify for the umbrella policy in Florida only if you own auto insurance liability protection that carries a bodily injury liability limit of 250/500 and a homeowner’s insurance liability of $300 000. When the claim against you is larger than those covered amounts, the umbrella insurance policy coverage will start.

You may wonder, why in the world would you need additional cover if you already are covered by the basic policies. The limits covered on those policies seem like a large amount until you find yourself liable for another’s medical bills that can run up to millions of dollars.  What will you do then? According to the law, if you cannot pay your liability obligation, the state will claim your savings and retirement policies in an attempt to cover the outstanding amount.  Once depleted,  it may take many years to restore your savings and retirement provision. To protect yourself from financial hardship on top of dealing with the traumatic event in your life, the umbrella insurance policy will protect you against such a devastating financial loss.

So, how much umbrella insurance coverage do you need? It depends on personal circumstances. The best way to ensure that you buy enough coverage is to discuss your needs with Express Insurance experts in Longwood, FL.