FEATURED ARTICLES
What’s An Independent Agency?
Captive agents sell one company. We represent dozens. Why that difference decides your price in Florida, and what makes a different carrier the right answer for each home and each driver.
Don’t Be Fooled: Home Quoting Tricks
Personal property replacement cost, screen enclosure, ordinance or law. The three endorsements most often left off to make a number look good — and what each one costs you at claim time.
Don’t Be Fooled: Auto Quoting Tricks
Why a $100,000 liability limit rarely puts $100,000 in an injured person’s hands, why uninsured motorist coverage keeps vanishing from quotes, and what rental reimbursement is really for.
Should I Buy Flood Insurance?
The question we get asked most, answered honestly. Your homeowners policy does not cover flood at all — and almost a third of federal flood claims come from properties outside the high-risk zones.
Florida insurance changes fast, and most of what gets written about it is either scary or useless. This is where we put plain answers to the questions our clients actually ask — what a rule change means for your house, what a form actually does, and what we’d do if it were our own policy.
Every heading below with an arrow is a link. No sales pitch — if you have a question that isn’t answered here, call us at 941-312-5771 and ask.
CHOOSING AN AGENCY
What is an independent insurance agency? →
Captive agents sell one company. We represent dozens. Why that difference decides your price in Florida — and exactly which factors make a different carrier the right answer for each home and each driver.
How to choose an insurance agency in Sarasota →
Independent, captive or direct — what the difference actually means, the five questions that separate a real agency from a quote engine, how to read review profiles, and the red flags worth walking away from.
HOME INSURANCE
Florida Homeowners Insurance
The overview: what actually sets your rate in Florida, the wind mitigation credit worth chasing, why flood is never included, and what to read on a quote before you compare prices.
Insuring a Short-Term Rental in Florida
Why an HO3 is the wrong form, how carrier rules on minimum rental length can void a claim, and the local rules that differ island to island.
Why is my Florida home insurance so high?
Lawsuits, reinsurance, rebuild costs, roof age and failed carriers — the five real reasons, and why your renewal may still have gone up despite the headlines.
How to lower your Florida home insurance cost
Wind mitigation credits, the roof-to-wall retrofit that doesn’t require a new roof, My Safe Florida Home grants, and an honest answer on whether hurricane shutters are worth the money.
Don’t Be Fooled: Home Quoting Tricks →
Why one quote comes in hundreds lower than another. The three coverages most often stripped out to make a number look good — personal property replacement cost, screen enclosure, and ordinance or law — and what each costs you at claim time.
Home insurance in Bradenton and Manatee County →
What Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton actually did here in 2024, the flood-coverage gap that caught most of the county, and why the barrier islands, west Bradenton and east Manatee price so differently.
Home insurance in North Port →
Ian never sent surge to North Port — the creek did the damage, days after the wind stopped. Why the newest housing stock in the region rates well on wind and still needs flood coverage.
Lakewood Ranch Home Insurance →
Why homes here often rate better than older homes near the water, what hurricane straps and 8d roof nailing are worth on the wind mitigation form, and the three things people get wrong about insuring an inland Florida home.
Wind mitigation inspections in Florida, explained →
The seven questions on the state form, which two carry the biggest credits, and why your build year isn’t the whole story. Most homeowners hear about this from a home inspector — here’s what it’s actually worth on a policy.
Florida had 79% of the nation’s home insurance lawsuits. What actually changed. →
August 2026. The share fell to 41% by 2025 — a real collapse in litigation, but not for the reason it’s usually credited to. What the reforms changed, why the headline number is partly measuring the weather, and why your premium may have gone up anyway.
BUNDLING HOME & AUTO
Progressive home insurance is back in Florida — and we can bundle it with your auto →
August 2026. Progressive stopped writing Florida homeowners a few years ago and quietly started again this April. Most agencies still can’t quote it. Plus the thing people get wrong about bundling: the discount often follows the agency, not the company.
AUTO INSURANCE
Why is car insurance so expensive in Florida?
Florida does not require drivers to carry bodily injury liability at all. That gap, plus PIP fraud and 15.9% uninsured drivers, is what you are actually paying for.
Don’t Be Fooled: Auto Quoting Tricks →
Why a $100,000 liability limit rarely puts $100,000 in an injured person’s hands, why uninsured motorist coverage keeps vanishing from quotes, and the small coverage that saves you weeks of aggravation.
Auto Insurance in Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch →
Florida requires $10,000 of PIP and $10,000 of property damage — and no bodily injury liability at all. Why a legal-minimum policy also leaves you with no uninsured motorist coverage.
Did Florida repeal PIP? No — here is the actual status →
August 2026. Repeal bills keep getting filed and keep dying in committee, and a lot of pages on the internet say otherwise. What Florida actually requires, and the 14-day rule most people miss.
FLOOD INSURANCE
Should I Buy Flood Insurance? →
It isn’t once a century — it’s a 1% chance every single year, which works out to roughly 1 in 4 over a 30-year mortgage. Plus six real floods that blew past those odds, three of them in Florida in the last four years.
Flood Insurance in Sarasota and Manatee County →
Your homeowners policy doesn’t cover flood — not partially, not at all. What the federal program covers, how private flood compares, and the January 1, 2027 Citizens deadline.
Will the National Flood Insurance Program stop writing policies on September 30? →
August 2026. The federal flood program’s authority expires September 30. It already lapsed for 43 days last fall and stalled closings nationwide. What stops, what keeps working, and why the 30-day waiting period is the deadline that actually matters.
UMBRELLA INSURANCE
Umbrella insurance in Florida: what it protects, and what Florida already protects →
Florida shields your homestead and your retirement accounts unusually well — which is exactly why the assets a judgment can reach are the liquid ones. An honest look at what’s exposed, without the garnishment scare stories.
BUSINESS & COMMERCIAL
Business and Commercial Insurance in Sarasota →
Workers’ compensation is required at one employee in construction and four everywhere else. What else a Florida small business actually needs, and why business interruption is the one owners here underestimate.
MOTORCYCLE, BOAT & RV
Motorcycle Insurance in Florida →
Florida doesn’t require motorcycle insurance — and PIP doesn’t apply to motorcycles, which leaves riders without the automatic medical coverage drivers get. Plus the helmet rule, stated precisely.
Boat Insurance in Sarasota and Manatee County →
Florida doesn’t require it, but your lender and your marina will. What your homeowners policy actually covers, and the provisions that matter on the Gulf Coast.
RV and Motorhome Insurance in Florida →
Motorhomes are vehicles; travel trailers aren’t. What each one requires, and why full-timer coverage exists.
The Insurance Man and Company · 62 Sarasota Center Blvd, Sarasota, FL 34240 · 941-312-5771 · Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm