If you are renting, you need Renters Insurance!

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Sun Insurance Services

I was speaking with some friends this weekend who recently had to move out of their home and into a rental property. The downturn in the economy has led to many home foreclosures and a lot of people ousted from their homes, forcing them to find homes to rent. When moving from home-ownership to renting, there are some differences in insurance needs.

Many people think that they do not need insurance since they no longer own their home. While it is true that you don’t need property insurance (covers the building, and your landlord will take care of that), you will want to provide coverage for your personal items (contents) and personal liability. Renters insurance will cover your possessions in the case of theft or damage. The personal liability covers guests visiting in your home.

Coverage Options for FL Renters Insurance

Personal Property – Coverage for your personal property.

Loss of Use – Coverage for damages that might occur to your home should it become uninhabitable due to covered hazard.

Living Expenses – This covers you for daily living expenses such as food and shelter if your property needs to be repaired or replaced. This also covers the cost of living somewhere else for up to 24 months if your home becomes inhabitable

Inflation – An automatic adjustment with your annual policy renewal covering the cost of inflation should it rise.

Personal Liability – Covers damages that may include bodily injury to a visitor in your rented home. This also covers payments for legal expenses if you are sued as a result.

Medical Payments to Others – If someone is injured on your property this covers their medical expenses up to the policy limit.

Additional Coverage Riders – (requires extra premium) – Examples may include additional business liability coverage, damage due to flooding, and increased limits for liability and identity fraud. You may want to consider additional coverage for any furs, gold and cash

Orlando Florida Just how much renters insurance do you need? First, consider if you want an ACV (actual cash value) or, a replacement value policy. The ACV reimbursement will include the cost of the item less depreciation. Next, do a home inventory to determine the value of all of the items on your list and what it would cost to replace them. This list will be necessary in the case of a claim so keep it (and a video) in a safe place away from your home.

Renters insurance is relatively inexpensive with payments as low as $15-$20 a month for $30,000-$40,000 of coverage. The deductible can vary so choose the one that works for you.

You have worked hard for the things that you own. We would love to see you protected with a FL Renter’s policy. Contact us today to find the best coverage and price for your family…

Sun Insurance Services is an Orlando Florida Independent Insurance Agency proudly serving all of the Sunshine state. If we can help you with any of your FL insurance needs, please contact us today!

Personal Injury Insurance Available with Your FL Homeowners Policy

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Sun Insurance Services

Orlando FL You probably already know that Bodily Injury is for accidental events that result in a person suffering a serious injury and that destroyed or damaged property is called Property Damage. Personal Injury usually involves one person’s alleged interference with another person’s legal rights, or, occurrences that damage another person’s reputation.

Here are some example’s of Personal Injury acts:

False arrest, detention or imprisonment

Example: A homeowner suspects that her teen daughter’s friend has stolen jewelry while visiting her home. She locks the teen in her bedroom for an hour until the police arrive and it turns out the teen did nothing wrong.

Malicious prosecution

Example: A gentleman accuses his neighbor of stealing a laptop from his home and files charges with the police.

Wrongful eviction from, wrongful entry into, or invasion of the right of private occupancy

Example: A boarder comes home from work and finds his room’s door padlocked. The homeowner/landlord did it after the boarder, for the third night in a row, plays his stereo loudly.

Oral or written publication of material that slanders or libels a person or organization or disparages a person’s or organization’s goods, products or services

Example: A homeowner is the president of her parent and school organization. She also publishes articles for the organization on her Website. After an argument with another organization officer, the president recounts the incident on her site and includes some insults and false items about that person.

Oral or written publication of material that violates a person’s right of privacy

Example: A woman is visiting a friend. During the visit, she overhears her friend’s conversation with her doctor. The next day, the person reveals to others that the friend, a young, single female, is having medical problems due to an unexpected pregnancy.

Each of these examples could result in lawsuits. What you need to know is that these events are excluded from coverage by the typical homeowners policy due to the fact that they are intentional acts rather than accidental. You can protect yourself from personal injury losses by purchasing Personal Injury insurance (which is fairly inexpensive) available as an additional coverage on many FL homeowner policies. Contact us today to discuss your possible need for personal injury coverage…

Your best friend may be one of your biggest insurance concerns…

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Sun Insurance Services

Meet Nola... He's a lover not a biter!

Almost half of all US homes own a dog according to the American Pet Products Association’s 2011-2012 National Pet Owners Survey. That translates to close to 79 million dogs! Most homeowners and renters insurance policies typically cover dog bite liability. Dog bites account for more than one-third of all homeowners insurance liability claims. In 2010 alone, there were claims in excess of $400 million due to dog bites/attacks. Once a dog has bitten someone, it poses an increased risk. In that instance, the insurance company may suggest that the homeowner find the dog a new home, or may charge a higher premium, non-renew the homeowner’s insurance policy, or exclude the dog from coverage. Some FL insurance carriers offer no animal liability at all!

Here are some tips to help you with your insurance decisions if you have a dog:

Train, restrain your dog: Some insurers will cover your dog if you take it to obedience school or agree to restrain it with a muzzle, chain or cage, according to the Insurance Information Institute.
Read the fine print: Insurance companies may try to exclude dog bites or limit bite claims or claim amounts. We will happy to review your current policy with you.
Consider an umbrella policy: If your insurer insists on excluding your dog, a separate umbrella policy may provide the liability protection lacking in your homeowners insurance.
Dog liability insurance: If your dog has a checkered past, you may be able to obtain coverage through specialized dog liability insurance.

If you own a dog or your dog style changes, contact us here at Sun Insurance Services. We are dog owners ourselves and would be happy to review your FL homeowners policy to ensure that you are properly covered for any unfortunate incidents with your best friend…

Sun Insurance Services is an Orlando Florida based independent insurance agency serving all of the Sunshine state. If we can help you with any of your FL insurance needs, please contact us today!

Let’s Wine a little…

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Sun Insurance Services

Are you a wine’r? You are not alone. According to Wine Intelligence, more than 80 million Americans drink wine at least once a month. Wine continues to rise in popularity and now ties beer as the top choice for Americans who drink alcohol (62%) as their preference. The perception that wine is healthier, and the rise of domestic production, along with affordability and variety, make wine very palatable! Wine enthusiasts are becoming serious hobbyists and building extensive wine collections.

Like any type of property you invest in, there should be a greater concern with properly protecting that investment. You can arrange for additional security on your FL homeowner insurance and protect your wine like you would other higher value property like jewelry, musical instruments, furs or expensive cameras. If you tend to purchase more expensive wines and buy in higher quantities, accumulating a collection in your home, you may need to purchase scheduled coverage for your wine and related accessories.

So, if you have a special love of wine; it probably makes sense to Contact us today to learn more!

At Sun Insurance Services, we love to provide you with great insurance and information:

If you are looking to increase your collection, grab your favorite bottle for dinner, or hang out with your buds and have a glass of vino, check out our friends at The Wine Barn. They have 2 locations and can help you with all of your Wine-ing! Like them on Facebook and tell them Sun Insurance sent you!
You can plan all of your Wine-ing events here…
Check out The Downtown Pour in the South Eola District on March 25^th!

“Life is too short to drink bad wine.” — Anonymous

Sun Insurance Services is an Orlando Florida based independent insurance agency serving all of the Sunshine state. We offer a variety of products for all tastes…If we can help you with any of your FL insurance needs, please contact us today!

What can you learn from one family’s misfortune?

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Sun Insurance Services

Sun Insurance Services Someone close to me recently had their house robbed. The good news is, no one was harmed. The bad news is they will most likely never see the stolen items again. When you have good insurance, it’s not the monetary value that is most disturbing, but rather the sentimental investment. I’m not going to spend time talking about home inventory in this blog but if you need some excellent information on how to do that, check out a past blog we did a few months ago.

We wanted to share some interesting and helpful tips that this family learned the hard way in hopes that you might make some smart choices…. Most of this info came from the police officers who came to the “scene” (not the way you want to think of your home). This robbery took place in an upscale neighborhood in the middle of the day. The thieves were probably driving a car that didn’t look out of place. Not some beater van that you might suspect. They pulled their car into the driveway as if there to visit. Most likely there were 3 assailants. One to stay with the car and keep watch and the other 2 to shop the house.

This job was done by “professionals” who knew just where to look and what was most valuable for resale. They upturned every drawer in the house, went through every box (in closets and under the beds), and searched through purses and coats/jackets in all of the closets. They were most likely looking for cash, electronics, jewelry, (they took the entire jewelry box with them to search through later) and weapons. Take a minute to think about what you have “stashed” in your house. Is any of it in the places I just mentioned? Think your grandmother’s ring is safe in that old jacket pocket? Is your weapon secure in the top of your closet? Maybe. Knowing is half the battle, the other half is prevention.

It’s probably not a bad idea to go home tonight and relocate those valuable from their “hidden” places to safer spots. Consider a safety deposit box for valuable jewelry that is rarely worn or, maybe a safe (for your weapons too). There is something to be said for “hiding in plain sight”… my grandmother used to hide cash in a coffee can! You can find lots of security products for your home from window monitors to whole house alarm systems and you could be eligible for a discount on your FL homeowners insurance policy if you invest in one. Law enforcement officers say that most of the time any type of noise will scare off potential thieves, even a dog barking…

Mr. Sun offered this great piece of info if you are ever a victim of a home robbery…. Your cost for the clean up after the police investigation is completed, is covered by your homeowners policy. If you’re not sure what your policy says about replacement after a robbery, fire, etc., contact us today for a review of your policy…

Sun Insurance Services is an Orlando based, Florida independent insurance agency, serving the entire sunshine state.

If your only concern about your Florida insurance policy is price, don’t call Sun Insurance Services…

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Tonia Brewer

The truth is, we are excellent at what we do, we KNOW insurance. We are a Florida independent insurance agency with access to lots of insurance options! For you, that means that we will provide the absolute best policy for your specific needs!

It is not by accident that SERVICE is part of our name. Our agency was begun with the focus on our customers. We are continuously educating ourselves in the industry, as well as searching for new products, technology, and carriers. This focus assures that we can serve you at the highest level!

In a nutshell:

We promise to listen to your needs.
We will help educate and inform you.
We will reach into our vast resources and present you with our best policy recommendations.
We will be here to serve all of your Florida personal and business insurance needs.
We will make attending to your insurance issues as much fun as possible!

We can’t promise you that the policy we suggest to you will be the cheapest but, it will the best policy at the best price we can offer!

We know you have lots of choices for your Florida insurance concerns. The truth is, there are lots of insurance companies that are only interested in your money. They use professionals like lizards, pigs, and deep voiced actors, to attract you. If that is truly all you want in your Florida insurance policies… we wish you luck. However, if you want an agency that truly cares about you, and all of your insurance needs, then Contact Sun Insurance Services TODAY!

Sun Insurance Services, We revolve around YOU...

A true and regrettable story of one of our long-term clients…

Donna, one of our sunny agents, worked with our client, who is retired and living on a fixed income, to find the best coverage for their home and auto. We provided them with a policy that had solid coverage, and was well priced, and we have reviewed it with them every year. When the latest auto renewal arrived, the price of the policy had increased a bit, like all auto policies in Florida. The insured balked at the increase and wanted to gut the policy thereby losing most of its value, to reduce the premium. Donna worked to convince them not to take drastic action. The client insisted on removing the collision coverage from his auto policy. He rationalized that he had not had an accident in over 40 years and was an excellent driver. His net savings from this change was $120 annually.

We received a call from this client last Wednesday telling us he had been in an accident. Thankfully, he was OK. His car, not so much. The other driver was at fault having run a red light, hitting him broadside. Unfortunately, without collision insurance he is now exposed to a potential loss of $5000+ in damage to his car, replacement car rental reimbursement of up to $900, and storage fees of $100 per day until the claim is settled. That’s a total of about $9,000 out of pocket. To save $120. And what if he has a repeat accident during the same policy period??

At Sun Insurance Services we will always do our best to give you the best advice, policy, and price, for all of your Florida insurance needs. All YOU have to do is take it….

Do you have/know a story like this? Share it with us below..

Get some green for being green!

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Tonia Brewer

Sun Insurance is Green!

Sun Insurance is proud to “be green”. We recycle, re-use, and re-purpose everything we can. We don’t just do it, we think it! We encourage all of our family, friends, and clients to do what you can to help our environment.

In the late 1980’s the home building industry coined the term “green building” which refers to the incorporation of environmental considerations. When building or renovating your “green” house, you make certain deliberate choices such as:

Energy efficiency improvements such as high-performance windows and solar panels
Resource conservation using materials such as recycled building materials and engineered wood
Indoor environmental quality considerations such as low emission paints and carpets

Not only do green homes use 40 percent less energy but also, according to the U.S. Green Building Council, they use 50 percent less water than standard homes and toxin-free materials reduce indoor air pollution. The Insurance Information Institute says that people who are green-focused are less likely, for example, to neglect home maintenance, or smoke in bed — making them a lower insurance risk and that there is a “strong link in their behavior that reduces the risks of accidents and damage.”

It doesn’t appear that being green is just a fad either. In a recent survey of homeowners, as much as 75 percent said that they are more likely to buy a green home, or purchase green products in the coming years! If you are making an effort to be green, here are some incentives from insurance companies that you should contact us about today:

Travelers Insurance offers a 5 percent FL homeowners Insurance discount on green homes and provides additional expenses up to 10 percent of the loss amount (for homes without green features) to repair or rebuild with green methods and materials. Travelers Insurance defines “green” as “products, materials, methods, and processes that conserve natural resources, reduce energy or water consumption, avoid toxic or other polluting emissions or otherwise minimize the environmental impact
Farmers Insurance offers an eco-rebuild homeowners endorsement, which affords $25,000 for additional costs incurred to rebuild, repair, or replace damaged property with Energy Star-rated contents and materials. (The Environmental Protection Agency sponsors the Energy Star certification.) This endorsement also provides reimbursement for recycling debris rather than disposing of it.
Fireman’s Fund Insurance, a pioneer in this area, provides certified green dwelling coverage. Consumers with this coverage enjoy a 5 percent discount on their base premium.

It really is easy being green! How have you adapted green thinking? Leave us some of your tips below and we’ll share them!

Paying your Homeowner’s Insurance while in Foreclosure is the smart thing to do…

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Tonia Brewer

We are certainly not out of the woods yet, but certain economic indicators seem to be hinting at better times. Retail spending was up this past holiday season and, unemployment is coming down. Unfortunately, here in Florida we are still dealing with a very high rate of home foreclosures. Florida has consistently been among the Top 5 states with the highest foreclosures rate since the subprime mortgage mess exploded. The combination of speculative buying and rising consumer debt have resulted in thousands of homes being abandoned.

Many people are unable to make their mortgage payments and are sitting tight waiting for the foreclosure process to reach their door. Others are opting to walk away. Times are tough and we are all looking for ways to cut back. While it might be tempting, one bill you should not skip is your homeowners insurance policy. You could find yourself in a much worse situation by letting your policy lapse or not renew.

The foreclosure process can be quite lengthy and until it is completed, YOU are still liable for what happens on the property. Let’s say you are not living in, or maintaining the home, and the pool turns dark green and a child falls in and drowns… or, a tree from your yard falls on your neighbor’s house… You are responsible. Just because you are not paying your mortgage or maybe not even living there, does not absolve you of your accountability. Moreover, do not forget, the policy is in place to protect you and your belongings!

Another downside to not paying or renewing your homeowners insurance, is that the mortgage company could opt for a Force Placed policy that could cost you 4x the average rate. This policy (paid directly to the lender) only covers the remaining loan balance and lacks two things you need…liability, and, contents coverage. If you cannot afford to pay your insurance, here are some things that could be done to assist you:

Alter coverage’s
Raise deductibles.
If you are not living at the property, it might be possible to lower your liability insurance.

It can be expensive to reinstate insurance and some companies may even require you to pay a year’s premium upfront if you have lapsed. Don’t be stressed or embarrassed. You are not alone in this situation! Sun Insurance is here to assist you! Contact us today; we will help you do the right thing!

Are YOU ready to get out of Citizens?

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Tonia Brewer

Citizens was designed to be the insurer for FL homeowners who have no other options, not for insurance agents who have no other options! Currently, Citizens is talking about increasing premiums, decreasing coverage’s, and non-renewing policies!

Did you know that as a Citizens policyholder:

If Citizens sustains a deficit as a result of hurricane losses (or any other reason), your policy could be subject to surcharges as high as 45% of your premium?
Despite what you may have been told, Citizens Property Insurance is not supported by the full faith and credit of the state of Florida?

Based on information we have received from Citizens, we believe you qualify for coverage with one of Florida’s most prestigious, stable, insurance companies, Tower Hill Insurance.

If you would like to talk about better coverage, premiums and service, than you currently have for your home, contact us today for a quote with Tower Hill!

Sun Insurance, we revolve around you…

Our SUNny agents are ready to treat you right!

Call us 866.786.4615

Allstate Removes Florida Homeowners Alarm Credits

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Dee Brandt

Earlier this week, WFTV reported that Castle Key, Allstate’s Florida insurance carrier, is removing the alarm credits from all of its homeowner’s policies. This change could result in an increase in premium of 10% – 20%. If you currently have a Florida h omeowner’s insurance policy with Allstate, check your renewal to see if your policy has been affected by this adjustment.

If you have been affected and would like to talk about better options, contact us today. As an independent insurance agency based in Orlando and serving all of Florida, we have access to dozens of homeowners’ carriers that have not removed the alarm credit…