Independent agency · Florida
You will be dealing with Marcus, and he answers his own phone.
We are independent, which means we are not tied to one company — we place your home, auto and umbrella with whichever of eleven carriers fits you this year, and move you when it stops fitting. Same agent every renewal.
What we write
Personal lines, and the small commercial that comes with them.
If it is on this list we write it ourselves. If it is not, we will tell you who does rather than sell you something close enough.
Homeowners
Including the Florida parts nobody enjoys: wind mitigation credits, roof age, and what a 2% hurricane deductible actually costs you on a $480,000 house.
Flood
Written through the NFIP or privately, whichever is cheaper for your elevation. We will pull your flood zone before you ask.
Condo & townhouse
HO-6, and a read of your association's master policy so you are not insuring something twice or leaving a gap at the drywall.
Personal auto
Including the uninsured-motorist conversation, which in this state is the one that matters more than the premium difference.
Umbrella
A million over the top of the rest. Usually the cheapest meaningful thing on your whole policy and the one most people do not have.
Landlord & rental
DP-3 for a long-term rental, and the different animal you need if it is on a nightly booking platform.
Small business
General liability, a BOP, tools and equipment, and the certificate your general contractor keeps asking you for.
Boat, golf cart, jewelry
The things a standard policy either excludes or sub-limits to an amount you would be annoyed by.
Getting a quote
Four steps, and you will know where it is at each one.
The reason people dread this is not the paperwork, it is the silence afterwards. So here is what happens and roughly when.
You send the form
Or you call. Either way it reaches Marcus, not a queue, and you get a reply saying it arrived.
Same dayWe pull what we can ourselves
Flood zone, roof age, prior claims, wind mitigation if there is one on file. Less for you to dig out of a drawer.
Within a dayWe shop it properly
Every carrier we are appointed with that writes your risk, not the first three. You see the numbers side by side, including the ones we would not recommend and why.
2–3 daysYou decide, we bind
Nothing starts until you say so. If you are mid-term with somebody else we set it up to begin the day yours ends, so there is no gap and no double payment.
When you are readyWho we place with
Eleven carriers, and no reason to prefer one.
Every name above is invented — this is a template demo. On a real site these are the carriers the agency is actually appointed with, and the appointments are worth checking: an agent with three is shopping a much smaller market than one with eleven.
When something happens
A claim is the only day the policy matters.
You can file directly with the carrier and plenty of people do. Here is what you get by calling us first instead.
- We tell you honestly whether to file at all — a $3,200 claim against a $2,500 deductible is usually not worth what it does to your renewal, and the carrier will not say so.
- We read your policy back to you before you call, so you know what is covered before an adjuster tells you.
- We file it with you on the phone, in one go, rather than you repeating the story to three departments.
- We chase the adjuster when it goes quiet. This is most of the actual work and it is the part you cannot do yourself.
- If it is denied and we think that is wrong, we say so in writing to the carrier, with the policy language.
- At renewal we tell you what the claim did to your rate and whether moving carriers now beats staying.
Questions
The ones we actually get asked.
Does going through an agent cost me more?
No. The commission is built into the carrier's rate whether an agent is involved or not — if you buy direct, the carrier keeps it. What you are choosing is whether somebody reads your policy and argues about your claim, not whether you pay for one.
You said eleven carriers. Do you favor any of them?
Commission varies by a point or two between carriers, which is not enough to be worth losing a client over, and we will tell you the spread if you ask. What actually drives the recommendation is which one writes your roof age, your claims history and your zip code without a surcharge.
I am mid-term with somebody else. Is it worth looking now?
Usually it is worth getting the numbers now and acting at renewal. Canceling mid-term can mean a short-rate penalty that eats the saving. We will quote it either way and tell you which is better — including when the answer is to stay where you are.
What happens at renewal?
We re-shop it against the other ten, every year, without being asked. If yours is still the best we say so and you do nothing. Most years that is the answer; the years it is not are what pays for the exercise.
How do I check you are actually licensed?
The license and NPN numbers are at the bottom of every page on this site. Florida's are searchable on the Department of Financial Services licensee lookup, and the NPN on the NAIC's national producer database. You should check this for any agent, not just us.
- Agency
- Hollis & Pike Insurance LLC
- Producer
- Marcus Hollis
- FL license
- W000000 (2-20 General Lines)
- NPN
- 00000000
- Licensed in
- Florida, Georgia, Alabama
- E&O
- In force, certificate on request
Hollis & Pike Insurance LLC is an independent agency. We are not an insurer and we do not underwrite or pay claims — coverage is written by the carrier named on your policy, and the policy itself governs what is and is not covered. Quotes are estimates and are not an offer of coverage or a guarantee of rate; coverage begins only when a carrier binds it in writing. Carrier names shown above are invented for this demonstration.