Living in Florida is excellent, and if you are also a homeowner, you are likely winning at life! Your home is precious to you, and that is why we encourage you to learn and consider all options for your homeowners insurance. Our team has over 55 years of experience protecting Florid homeowners. We have helped thousands of clients make insuring their house a worthwhile and positive experience.
Home insurance has evolved a lot. Anyone living in Florida knows how expensive it can be. Part of this is because Florida has fantastic weather, but a consequence of that is exposure to hurricanes. These storms do not frequently visit most other states in America. We work with almost every home insurer in Florida, so we can shop and compare coverages while offering some of the best rates around.
The price of Naples home insurance depends on many factors. The replacement cost of your house, the age of your house, the age of your roof, and the location of your house are significant components used to calculate pricing.
Homeowners insurance has evolved, and anyone living in Florida knows it can be a challenge. It’s a good idea to find a knowledgeable agent.
This is because Florida has amazing weather, but a consequence of that is exposure to hurricanes. These storms do not frequently visit most other states in America. We work with almost every home insurer in Florida, so can shop and compare coverages, offering you some of the best rates around.
The price of Fort Myers home insurance depends on many factors. The replacement cost of your house, the age of your house, the age of your roof and the location of your house are significant components used to calculate pricing.
A standard homeowners insurance policy likely offers:
Dwelling Coverage | This coverage focuses on rebuilding your house if it is destroyed by fire, storms, or other circumstances.
Other Structures | coverage extends to structures on your property such as a detached garage, swing set, deck, or storage building.
Personal Property | This type of coverage extends to cover losses incurred from losing your personal items and protects the contents of your home.
Additional Living Expenses | This coverage provides cash for you to find a place to go if your home is destroyed or when it’s unlivable during repairs.
Personal Liability | If someone gets injured or your property is damaged through your fault; personal liability coverage can step up to protect you.
Medical Payments | If someone is visiting your home and injures themselves. This coverage can cover the cost of medical bills, ambulances, surgical expenses, and more.
This may seem comprehensive, but there are always exclusions to your Naples homeowners insurance policy. For example, flood insurance isn’t included in a standard insurance policy. More options to consider adding include specific weather conditions, pets, and plumbing. Protection from just about everything you can imagine is available for homeowners insurance, but you have to be sure that they are included before you run into a problem or claim.
As the trusted choice for Florida’s homeowner insurance, we offer policies to protect every unique Florida property & homeowner
Homeowners Insurance in Naples Comes in Many Different Forms
In addition to traditional homeowners insurance, we also offer:
Condominium Coverage. Every condo owner should carry their policy for liability and property loss. Your condo coverage works like a homeowners policy, in that it covers your personal belongings, loss of use, liability but it only covers from the drywall in. Your association should be responsible for getting coverage for the condo buildings. If it is a primary or seasonal home, you still need quality condominium coverage. Another thing to consider with condos is the age of the unit. Some carriers limit or exclude water coverage (pipes leaking, for example) if the buildings are over certain age limits. It can be complicated, so please give us a call to go over your options here.
Renters Insurance. If you are a renter, you should have renters insurance. By taking an inventory of your belongings you’d be surprised at how much it would cost to replace everything. Protect it all with a Fort Myers renters insurance policy from Goodlad & Swank Insurance.
Lessors Risk, also known as Landlord Insurance Dwelling Policy. As a property owners and investor, it only makes sense to protect your investments. We will consult with you to customize what you need to stay prepared for any event. We can evaluate your replacement costs and also offer coverage for the loss of rental income. We can also provide you with coverage for your tenants protection and bodily damage to anyone visiting your properties.
Optional Homeowners Insurance Coverage in Fort Myers
Homeowners insurance laws and regulations are constantly changing. It is important to know what is and what isn’t covered in your policies. Here are some additional options to consider:
Jewelry, Guns, Fine Art Collections. Let’s face it, every home contains items that would interest a burglar. Family heirlooms or just that giant 80” TV on the wall can be covered. Be sure to let our representatives know if you have high dollar items. There are limits to the amount offered on this coverage so it’s important to detail what you have. Sometimes we can build a list outlining all of the items and in certain cases we can write you a special policy called a Personal Articles Policy to provide the proper coverage amounts.
Flood Coverage. Roughly 30% of flood claims occur on places that are “not in a flood zone”. This coverage does NOT come standard with your homeowners insurance, so it is important to have in Florida. Essentially, all of Florida is a flood zone with certain areas more prone to flooding than others. Also keep in mind that if you are in certain flood zones that banks require this coverage. It’s important to check with an agent to determine pricing before buying a home. The cost of the policy could be so high that it affects your DTI (debt to income) and a house that was affordable without it is now outside of your price range.
Equipment Breakdown. TVs, HVAC systems and other appliances break down or are damaged. For a low yearly charge, you can be covered. It is a nice feeling to know you will not be responsible for hundreds or even thousands of dollars in repairs.
Identity Theft. Many carriers offer this at a low cost to provide you identity theft protection. The world gets more complicated every day, and this is a smart, and cheap way, to protect yourself from online dangers.
Water Damage. Storms can cause water damage to your home. Leaking pipes also cause problems. Be sure to check that your Fort Myers homeowners insurance policy has adequate coverage for water damage. The age of your home is also hugely important here. You will likely start facing coverage restrictions if your house is over 30 years old. There are options for a partial or full buyback of this important coverage, but only certain carriers offer that. Please call us to review your options.
The team at Goodlad & Swank Insurance works hard every day to offer the most coverage for your money. We strive to offer only the most competitive and thorough rates of any insurance agency in the great State of Florida. Your home is your castle, and we will work with you to provide ways to make your most important investment safer secure. Contact us today to get started.
Goodlad & Swank Insurance is a family-owned insurance agency licensed by the great State of Florida. We are a team that focuses on integrity in our work with clients and insurance carriers. We’re locals just like you and have enjoyed growing our client list since 2009. We understand it’s always easier having your insurance under one roof, so we offer comprehensive solutions for your insurance needs.
Florida’s home insurance market evolves every day. Coverages that were considered standard ten years ago are now add-ons or have been dramatically reduced. Therefore, it’s essential to work with an agency with top carriers and is active in the marketplace. We understand how complex it seems and want you comfortable and confident in your homeowners insurance policy. Our goal is for you to receive first-class customer service with the best coverage options available in Florida.
The team at Goodlad & Swank Insurance works hard every day to offer the most coverage for your money. We strive to offer only the most competitive and thorough rates of any insurance agency in the great State of Florida. Your home is your castle, and we will work with you to provide ways to make your most important investment safer secure. Contact us today to get started.
Some other coverages worth learning about
Ordinance and Law
This is often included but you may wish to increase coverage because building codes are continuously changing. We Floridians learn from storms and revise building methods to make our structures safer. O&L coverage provides for the extra cost to get your house built up to code. Without it, you might have to pay for any shortfall for the changes required to get your house in line with the current building rules.
Water Back-up
Water and sewage rising through toilets and drains causes significant damage and is often costly to repair. Even a small amount of standing water can ruin flooring, cabinets, rugs and drywall. That adds up!
Screened Lanais, Florida Rooms and Enclosures
Most insurance carriers have changed how much they’ll cover for screened enclosures. Medium to large enclosures will often fall well short of the cost to repair if you don’t have adequate protections in place. Be sure to discuss this with us if you have any screening.
Animal Liability
Do you have a dog? Me, too! I have two, actually. Consider if your dog runs into the road and a car swerves to miss him but also causes an accident. This is a situation where animal liability would be good to have. People commonly think it is only for bites, but it does offer broader coverage than that. You do run into coverage issues with certain dog types. Here’s a list of commonly restricted dogs: Akita, American Bulldog, American Staffordshire Terrier, Belgian Malinois, Bull Terrier, Cane Corso, Caucasian Mountain Dog, Chow, Doberman Pinscher, Dutch Shepherd, German Shepherd, Mastiff, Olde English Bulldogge, Pit Bull, Presa Canario, Rottweiler, Staffordshire Terrier and Wolf or Wolf Hybrids. Fear not, we do have carriers that will still write insurance on your home but will likely eliminate animal coverage.
Golf Cart Liability
Owning a golf cart is awesome but you need to consider having this coverage extension to protect against any bodily injury or property damage.
A few interesting bits of information about Naples:
Before the period of European colonization, the indigenous Calusa lived in Florida (including the region of present-day Naples) for thousands of years, from Charlotte Harbor to Cape Sable. In 1513, Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León explored the region and encountered the Calusa, who resisted attempts by de León to establish a Spanish colony in Florida. This initiated nearly two hundred years of conflict between the Spanish and the Calusa. In the early 18th century, following slave raids from Muscogee and Yamasee raiders allied with European settlers in Carolina, the majority of the remaining Calusa moved south and east to escape the raids.
The city of Naples was founded in 1886 by former Confederate general and Kentucky U.S. Senator John Stuart Williams and his partner, Louisville businessman Walter N. Haldeman, the publisher of the Louisville Courier-Journal. Throughout the 1870s and 1880s, magazine and newspaper stories telling of the area’s mild climate and abundant fish likened it to the sunny Italian peninsula. The name Naples caught on when promoters described the bay as “surpassing the bay in Naples, Italy“. By the summer of 1888, Naples had a population of about 80 people, and the first hotel opened in 1889. Major development was anticipated after Collier County was established in 1923, the completion of the railroad reaching Naples in 1927, and the completion of the Tamiami Trail linking Naples to Miami in 1928, but did not begin until after the 1929 Stock market crash, the Great Depression, and World War II. During the war the U.S. Army Air Forces built a small airfield and used it for training purposes; it is now the Naples Municipal Airport.
After a hurricane in 1945, fill was required to repair the damage. A local dredging company, Wyatt Brothers, created a lake north of 16th Avenue S, between Gordon Drive and Gulf Shore Boulevard. In 1949, Reginald Wyatt II asked Mr. Rust to sell him the 296 acres from Jamaica Channel to today’s 14th Avenue S. The Jamaica Channel was widened, one canal was dredged, and 14th Avenue S was created. Today, the Wyatt family is credited with the construction of Naples first beach. Additional channels were eventually added to the south of 14th Avenue S and are named alphabetically for local water birds. The first channel south of 14th Avenue S is Anhinga Channel, then Bittern Channel is south of 15th Avenue S, Crane Channel is south of 16th Avenue S, Duck Channel is south of 17th Avenue S, and Egret Channel is north of 21st Avenue S. From the channels there are coves named Flamingo, Gull, Heron, and Ibis, as well as the original Aqua Cove. These initial channels, canals, and coves were dredged and bulldozed from the mangrove swamps. Where shallow rock precluded digging, land was filled to create lots with navigable water.
The Aqualane Shores Association was incorporated as a non-profit corporation on February 3, 1966. It served lot owners in the area roughly bounded by the Bay of Naples to the east, Gordon Drive to the west, and the land between 14th Avenue and 21st Avenue S, as well as Marina Drive, Forrest Lane, and Southwinds Drive. Thirty years later, in 1996, a state-mandated city master plan renamed the area to the Aqualane Shores Neighborhood and extended its boundary west to the Gulf of Mexico, east to the Bay of Naples, and the area from 14th Avenue S all the way south to Jamaica Channel. The numerous canals and waterfront homes add a distinctive feature to the south portion of Naples and provide access to the Gulf of Mexico for many homeowners.
The economy of Naples is based largely on tourism and was historically based on real estate development and agriculture. Due to its proximity to the Everglades and Ten Thousand Islands, Naples is also popular among ecotourists.
Companies based in Naples include ACI Worldwide, Beasley Broadcast Group, and ASG Technologies, in addition to numerous small businesses. Due to the wealth present in Collier County, Naples is also home to many small non-profit organizations. The surrounding Naples metro area is also home to major private employers such as Fortune 1000 company Health Management Associates and technology company NewsBank.
In 2009, Naples placed 10th in a report by U.S. News & World Report titled “10 Pricey Cities That Pay Off.” The report ranked cities by its “amenity value,” a measurement based on the amount of satisfaction an asset brings to its owner. In 2012, a report by Kiplinger ranked Naples with the sixth-highest per capita income in the country, along with the second-highest proportion of millionaires per capita in the US.
Many thanks to www.wikipedia.com for the cool information about Naples and its history.
