Lewis Insurance Agency

We are praying that everyone is safe from the storm. We are planning to get to the office today and open, contingent on road conditions. Please understand that we will be operating on limited power and resources, but will strive to serve you! Our goal is to be able to help you with claims and all other insurance needs.

In the meantime, please see the number listed in your policy to file the claim, or login to your customer portal to file .

Be safe!

We pray that you have all remained safe during the storm. Our office has been closed today for the safety of our employees. Unfortunately, we are unable to get to our office this afternoon due to flooding . We are planning to try and open tomorrow, but that will be contingent upon road conditions and power.

If you have a claim, please call the company that your policy has been placed with to file the claim. You may also login to the company’s customer portal to file.

Again, we pray that you have remained safe and continue to during this time.

We are currently looking to hire an additional full-time CSR. Please DM or stop by our agency to inquire further.

Lewis Insurance is currently looking to hire a commercial lines producer. Must have an active 4-40 license and experience in writing commercial accounts.

DM for inquiries.

We hope that everyone has made it through the storm and is safe.

We are monitoring our operations at the office. At this time, we currently have no power at Lewis Insurance. We will be checking again early in the morning.

The following are claim numbers to the homeowners and auto carriers. Calling them in personally at this time will certainly expedite the process and speed things along for you.

Universal-800-470-0599
Foremost-800-274-7865
Cabrillo Coastal-866-896-7233
American Integrity-866-277-9871
American Strategic -866-274-5677
American Mobile-800-892-9613
Heritage-855-415-7120

Progressive-800-776-4737
Auto Owners-888-252-4626

Thank you for your patience as we strive to get back to full capacity to better serve you!

Our office has closed in order to allow our employees to prepare for the storm. We will be monitoring the power situation for Thursday morning. If we are unable to access power and we are not able to answer telephone calls, please call the company that your policy has been placed with to file a claim or answer any questions that you may have.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

We pray that you all stay safe as we get through this storm.

Thank you!

The staff and family of Lewis Insurance would like to thank all of those who have served, and are currently serving, our nation! May God keep His hand on you and your families!

Happy Veterans Day!

Over the 3-Day weekend, a tree fell on our power line and caused complete power failure. Unfortunately, this is requiring allot of electrical work and therefore we will be out of power for a day or two.

We are sorry for the inconvenience to our customers but we are on-site to help in anyway we can.

We are working on a temporary phone solution and will have an update soon.

While everyone is giving Florida such High Praise for handling Covid and such, there is another virus eating away at all Floridians that I promise, if you own property in the State of Florida, you will see the ramifications.

Read this stat three times: Of all 50 States, Florida accounts for only 8% of all property claims. Yet, over 76% of ALL lawsuits in the nation pertaining to property claims come for Florida.

Florida carriers lost more than $1.6 billion in 2020 thanks in part to excessive litigation, reinsurance costs and natural catastrophes. While 2021 numbers has not been released, every carrier is sharing that the losses will exceed the $1.6 Billion.

Companies are taking extreme steps to reduce their exposure in areas where there is high litigation rates or high reinsurance costs, including enacting coverage restrictions and increasing rates. If you have not seen these rate increases yet, hold tight. You will very soon and I don't see them leveling off.

The fact is, without legislative reforms, rates will continue to increase and property owners will be unable to find coverage in the private market.

Citizens, which was created as an insurer of last resort, has seen massive growth during the past two years. At the end of 2021, Citizens had 747,654 policies. By comparison, it had 532,788 policies on Nov. 30, 2020, and 444,323 policies on Nov. 30, 2019, according to data posted on the Citizens website. Citizens officials expect to have more than 1 million policies by the end of 2022.

The Sad State of the Florida Homeowners Market:

For those of you that live in the state of Florida and own a home, I feel it is important that you understand what is happening, as well as coming in regards to the Florida Insurance market for home insurance. In fact, we are in the beginning of a state of crisis!
While most people think hurricanes are to blame, it is the laws and how litigation is allowed to be handled in our state that causes most of the issues.

There are companies that are going around and asking homeowners if they can inspect their roof. If they find anything that allows to turn in a claim, they do. These losses, as well as all the fraudulent losses reported every year, have caused, just in 2020, $1 billion in losses. But, most of that goes to litigation and not the repair/replacement of property. Currently, it is reported that a litigation claim costs $48,000.

Due to this, there were 105 rate increase filings in excess of 10% in 2020 alone. 2021 is looking worse. Of those companies that are not taking rate increases, they are leaving the State of Florida or making dramatic changes to underwriting guidelines.

Citizens Insurance is an insurance company that the state of Florida started and owns. It’s sole purpose is be a last resort when you can not get coverage any where else. Right now, there are roughly 5,600 Floridians are leaving their private insurer each week for Citizens Property Insurance Corp. Why? Because the underwriting guidelines are so strict now and so many are being non-renewed, that they have no place to go.

So, how does this affect you? If your home has a roof over 10-years old, it is very likely that you will be required to replace it or be non-renewed. Then, you have an extremely hard time finding replacement coverage as all the carriers still writing have the same guidelines.

My agency represents 10+ homeowner carriers and while they all have different guidelines, each one has limited the year of roof ages. Some carriers are at 10-years, some are at 12-years and a few are still at 15-years. Some carriers are changing the policy from replacement cost to only actual cash value.

Unless something dramatically changes, we will continue to see dramatic rate increases for less coverage.

I recommend everyone to call your insurance agent and see what the current guidelines are for your insurance company. This way, you are not caught off guard.

If I can help answer any questions or assist in anyway, please contact me.

Please join us Friday December 17th and Saturady Dec 18th for movie night in Olustee park at 6:30pm.

Lewis Insurance is excited to parnter with City of Lake City to bring a family oriented free community event. The Santa Clause with Tim Allen will show both nights given everyone portion for viewing.

Effective tomorrow, August 25th, we are temporarily restricting public inside the office. Lake City is currently the hardest hit area in the State of Florida and the hospitals are overrun with patients.

Our office will remain open and fully staffed. If you need anything, please feel to reach out to us via phone at 386-755-0050.

We do have a night drop that any paperwork or payments can be made at.

I have personally lost an Aunt and a close friend this week due to Covid in Lake City. In addition, we have so allot of other friends and clients currently on the ventilator and we feel it is only right to take these steps.

I know there are those that will be upset by this and all we can ask is that you please have patience with us as we try to what we feel is safe for our clients and employees.

Thank You,

Brian Lewis

Lewis Insurance is growing and looking for qualified help. Please contact our agency if you are interested.

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Who is with me that it would have been nice if this insurance was around when we were in school?

2020 HAS AWAKEN THE SLEEPING GIANT...

Not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, but 5 Storms building behind the current feature coming towards FLORIDA!!!!!!

We would like to thank all our customers for your understanding during this difficult time. Due to the order by the Office of the Governor, we will be operating from our homes. Rest assured that we will be available from 9:00 to 5:00, Monday through Friday. You can reach us at (386)755-0050. As far as payments PLEASE DO NOT PLACE CASH IN THE NIGHT DROP, as we will not be here every day to check it. Please continue to call us as usual to make credit card and checking account payments. We understand that this is an uncertain time. Please know that we will be here to assist you in anyway that we can. May God cover you all in His protection!

The safety and well-being of our customers, as well as our employees, is of upmost importance. Through careful consideration we will be handling all business over the telephone. All of your insurance needs can be handled by any of our employees. Please call (386)755-0050, to make a credit card or checking account payment. Please utilize the drop box next to our front door for any cash, check, or money order payments. We will be available from 9:00 to 5:00 to handle all calls.

RESTAURANT & OTHER BUSINESS OWNERS:

If your business is starting to add delivery with your employees using their personal vehicles due to this Virus issue, PLEASE make sure you contact your agent and have Hired & Non-Owner Auto added to your policy.

What does hired non owned auto cover? Hired and Non-Owned Auto Insurance provides liability coverage for bodily injuries or property damage that you or your employees cause while driving for work. This protection applies to vehicles you “hire” (like a rental car) or vehicles your business doesn't own (like employees' personal vehicles).

We hope that this finds all our family at Lewis Insurance well. It is our hope that we can get through this difficult time as smoothly as possible. Please know that we are paying very close attention to the updates from the CDC concerning the Coronavirus (COVID-19). It is a rare occurrence that something of this magnitude effects out entire world, but we now find ourselves in this situation. At Lewis Insurance, we value each and everyone of our customers, and we will remain committed to serving each one of you during this very unsettling time.

The safety and well- being of our customers, as well as our employees, are paramount. Through careful consideration, we encourage you to make use of the online services provided to you by your individual carriers, (Home, Auto, RV, Boat, etc. ) As always, feel free to call us with any payments, changes, or any other concerns that you might have. At this time, we will continue to operate on a normal schedule of 9:00-5:00, Monday through Friday. We can be reached at (386) 755-0050.

If you do wish to visit our office, we are urging all customers to be willing to pay with a credit/debit card or be willing to provide your banking information so that we may manually enter your information. This is in efforts to drastically reduce the transferring of money and checks, in hopes of reducing the exposure of the virus. We know that there is much more that must be done, and please know that we are taking appropriate measures to ensure a safe and clean environment.

Again, our staff is closely monitoring the updates from our health officials. Please visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html for continued updated information from the CDC on the virus.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at (386)755-0050.

We pray that you and your family stay safe and healthy through this trying time.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a virus (more specifically, a coronavirus) identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China.

Vote:

Lewis Insurance will be closed on Wednesday, January 22nd, 2020 for the funeral of Wynell Lewis.

Office will reopen on Thursday, 23rd at 9:00am

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT COVERAGE!
https://lewisinsurance.com/make-sure-you-have-the-right-coverage/

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT COVERAGE! Do you have the right coverage? Call us today for a Free Check-Up!

When you have claim, trust an Agent and not a Gecko to be there for you!

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Safety Tips For Driving In Fog Driving in fog is considered to be the most dangerous weather hazard, especially if it is exceptionally dense fog or combined with other adverse weather conditions.

History of Hurricane Landfalls.

Make sure you are prepared!

More than 85 percent of all hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin occurs after the middle of August. Some consider Aug. 15 as the “real” start to hurricane season. The Atlantic Basin has been quieter than normal so far this season. The Accumulated Cyclone Energy index, or ACE for short, is widely accepted in the meteorological community as a way to gauge how active the tropics have been based on the intensity, longevity, and number of tropical storms and hurricanes. [ 43 more words ]
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85% of All Hurricane Activity Occurs After This Date More than 85 percent of all hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin occurs after the middle of August. Some consider Aug. 15 as the "real" start to hurricane season.