Questions to ask your home insurance agent

Questions about the agent: who do they represent?

Ask directly: “Are you a captive agent or an independent agent?” A captive agent is contracted to sell for a single insurance company and can only offer that company’s products, even if a competitor would be a better fit for your home. An independent agent works with multiple carriers and can compare options across them. Neither structure is automatically better — a captive agent who knows one carrier deeply can be a strong advocate with that company, and an independent agent’s value depends entirely on which carriers they actually use. The point of asking is to understand whether the quote in front of you is one option among many or the only option this agent is able to offer. For a fuller look at how the two roles differ, see our Agent vs. Broker guide.

Questions about access: how many carriers can they actually write with?

Being “independent” doesn’t say much on its own — ask how many carriers the agency is appointed with for Florida homeowners business, and which ones. Some independent agencies hold appointments with a dozen or more carriers; others work with just two or three. Also ask which of those carriers they placed the most business with last year. An agency can be technically independent while routing most policies to one or two preferred markets, often because those carriers pay higher commissions or are easier to place with. That’s not necessarily a problem, but it’s useful to know before you assume the quote reflects a broad market search.

Questions about the quote: what is in it, and what was left out?

Ask the agent to walk through every coverage line, not just the premium total. A complete homeowners quote should itemize Coverage A (dwelling), Coverage B (other structures), Coverage C (personal property), Coverage D (loss of use), Coverage E (personal liability), and Coverage F (medical payments to others), along with every deductible that applies and any endorsements added or excluded. Ask specifically what was left off: Is water damage or mold coverage capped or excluded? Is there a separate sinkhole or roof-related endorsement? Is the dwelling insured for replacement cost or actual cash value, and does that differ by peril (many Florida policies apply actual cash value to roofs specifically)? A quote that only shows a bottom-line number hasn’t told you enough to compare it to anything else.

Questions about deductibles: which ones apply, and when?

Florida homeowners policies carry at least two separate deductibles, and they don’t work the same way. The hurricane deductible applies only when a hurricane warning is issued for any part of Florida by the National Hurricane Center, and it remains in effect until 72 hours after the last hurricane watch or warning affecting the state is lifted. Tropical storms that never reach hurricane status don’t trigger it. State rules require carriers to offer hurricane deductible options of $500, or 2%, 5%, or 10% of the dwelling coverage limit, and the dollar amount must be stated on the policy even when it’s expressed as a percentage. When the hurricane deductible applies, no other deductible on the policy applies to that same loss. The all-other-perils deductible is typically a flat dollar amount and applies to everything else — fire, theft, non-hurricane wind, and other covered losses. Ask the agent to state both deductibles in dollars for your specific dwelling limit, and to confirm the hurricane deductible applies once per calendar year across all hurricane losses with that insurer, not per storm.

Questions about what happens next: renewal, service and claims

Ask what happens after the policy is bound: Does this agent handle renewals directly, or does the account get reassigned? Who do you call first if you need to file a claim — the agent, the carrier, or a separate claims line? How much notice does the carrier typically give before a renewal premium change or non-renewal, and does the agent proactively review the policy each year or only when you call? Also ask whether premium payments, endorsement requests, and mid-term changes go through the agent or directly through the carrier’s portal. The answers tell you whether you’re getting an agent who actively manages the account or one who mainly handles the initial sale.

What is an agent of record change, and when does it come up?

An agent of record (AOR) change is the process by which a policyholder authorizes a new agent to service an existing, already-in-force policy — without switching insurance carriers and without triggering new underwriting. It’s the tool for a homeowner who is unhappy with their current agent’s service but doesn’t want to shop for a new carrier or restart underwriting from scratch. The process typically starts with signing an AOR letter naming the new agent and an effective date; carriers commonly build in a waiting period of roughly 5 to 10 business days before the change takes effect, during which the outgoing agent is notified and can, in some cases, contest it. Because an AOR change doesn’t reopen underwriting, your coverage terms and premium stay the same at the moment of the switch — any changes would only show up at the next renewal, and only if the new agent requests them. If an agent brings this up, ask whether they’re proposing an AOR change (same carrier, new servicing agent) or a full rewrite with a different carrier, since the two have very different implications for your existing coverage and rate.