Is Insurance Enough? continued… The value of HR Support


Recently, we introduced the idea that a good insurance policy may not be fully sufficient if you’re striving for true, overall risk management of your business. If you missed that message, you can catch up here.

There are lots of approaches you can take, in a non-insurance way, to gain confidence in your company’s long-term stability. The first one we’ll dig into is HR Support.

HR Support can be defined as any of the following:

  • Onboarding and Termination
  • Job Description Builder/Postings
  • Employee Retention
  • Benefits Management
  • Employee Leave and Time Off
  • Compensation and Bonus Structures
  • Employee Handbooks
  • State and Federal Regulations
  • Safety and Health in the Workplace
  • Tax Filing, Credits, Compliance, etc
  • Retirement Planning and Exit Strategies

There are resources, such as the program we use for our partners and clients, called Mineral (formerly Think HR) that provide countless tools for topics such as these. If you aren’t currently putting effort into these assessments… That have nothing to do with your insurance coverage… You may be at a higher risk than you realize. And keeping a good team smoothly operating is too valuable to chance that.

We’re happy to help guide you through some of these things when you’re ready. And don’t miss our next deep dive in the “Is Insurance Enough?†A Riveting Series: Part 3 where we’ll talk about ERISA Compliance.

Happy Hurricane Season! Said no one ever.


According to the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), there are twelve to seventeen anticipated named storms during the 2023 Hurricane Season, which runs from June 1st through November 30th. Five to nine of those are expected to be hurricanes, with one to four being major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher). Once a storm is named, insurance companies can and will suspend binding coverage as the storm approaches and will continue to suspend coverage following a storm hitting land.

The suspension of coverage can affect home buyers who don’t get coverage early. Without adequate home insurance, closing dates can be pushed back until companies end the suspension. Use these tips throughout storm season to prevent delays for you and your home buyers:

  1. Encourage buyers to purchase their coverage early. There is no reason to not start the insurance process as soon as possible. This is important any time of year with the current state of property insurance in Florida but especially during hurricane season.
  2. Connect the mortgage company and insurance agent early in the process. Most buyers rely heavily on whatever their mortgage company requires and what their insurance advisor recommends so making the connection between those two parts of the transaction early on is sure to help things run smoothly.
  3. If a storm is approaching and insurance is not in place, encourage your buyer to call an insurance advisor as soon as possible. The policy must be bound with an effective date to avoid being held up by the binding suspension. Just because they’ve received a quote, does not mean it can’t be suspended.

We can’t stress enough, more so than ever before with the state of our insurance and reinsurance markets, to start the process early. Please share this information with your clients and let us know if we can help in any way. Let’s all hope for an uneventful season but we’re here if you need us.

Are Airbnb’s insurable? What should you consider before investing in one?


Up until just a few years ago, traveling meant making plans well in advance, booking through travel agents, and lots of planning ahead for hotels or other accommodations to explore desired locations. But with the internet at our fingertips and services like Airbnb, VRBO, etc now… it’s easier than ever to find a place to crash. Some, especially in the real estate industry, may even explore purchasing a property as an Airbnb as a long-term investment or for supplemental income. There are a few important things to consider though.

Regular home insurance policies are intended to protect you and your family from everyday risks, not from commercial renting. If a renter occupies your home for even a short amount of time, you and your family will be exposed to significantly different risks that weren’t considered when your policy was initially obtained. As a result, most homeowners and renters policies won’t cover property damage that’s caused by Airbnb guests.

There are also issues that come with rentals being vacant from time to time, in which insurance carriers are not comfortable taking on. For example: If you have a property that doesn’t get rented for two weeks and a toilet overflows, no one is aware before the damage is much worse and could’ve been prevented or mitigated sooner.

There are also liability concerns with different short-term renters coming in and out.

If you’re considering renting through Airbnb, your first step should be to contact your insurance advisor to review your current homeowners or renters insurance policy. While that policy may allow you to rent your property to a guest, it’s important to keep in mind that each insurer has its own restrictions and requirements. Some insurers may require advanced notice of any short-term rental, whereas others might insist that you purchase an endorsement to expand your coverage appropriately.

If you plan to rent your property out on a regular basis, many insurance companies will consider this commercial use. In many cases, regular Airbnb hosts will need to obtain a commercial insurance policy in order to be adequately insured. However, a growing number of insurance companies are now offering home-sharing liability insurance policies that can be purchased on a month-to-month basis, so this is also something to consider.

Lastly, there are Host Guarantee and Host Protection policies offered by Airbnb in particular but we would advise you to beware of coverage gaps and exclusions with these options. You can look into the details of these offerings on their website here. As always, we are happy to help navigate through this process anytime you or your clients are considering it.

Is an insurance policy enough?


We can probably all agree that it’s the responsibility of the business owner, decision maker, HR or Office Manager to be sure the business is protected in the best way possible. Protected in the form of locking the doors and setting the alarm at night, but also protected in the form of knowing that everything will be okay in the event of an unexpected disaster.

Some may argue that you can only prepare so much but having confidence in the state of the company and reassurance that you did everything you could to sustain even a major curveball… you can’t put a price on that. But is having a good insurance policy enough? Sure, it would help with damages to your building. Or to your company truck. Or if there’s a break-in, a fire, water damage… Insurance is hugely helpful in lots of ways. If an employee gets hurt, if they make a mistake on a jobsite, if someone steals from you… We could be here all day with those examples.

But even if you understand the value of insurance, max out your coverage, and are the most adequately insured business owner in the county… Is it enough to truly protect you and keep the company running successfully? Here are a few other things to consider if you’re searching for that confidence that you’ve really done all you can to fulfill your responsibility of fully protecting what you work so hard for.

  • HR Support
  • ERISA Compliance
  • Safety Plan Management
  • Employee Retention
  • Cybersecurity/ADA Compliance
  • Safe/Distracted/Defensive Driver Trainings
  • Fleet Maintenance Program

Stay tuned for more to come as we dive into each of these categories and share ways you can implement more of this in to your company culture.

Will the property insurance crisis in Florida really get worse before it gets better?


The cost of reinsurance for Florida property insurers has increased over 100% in the past 4 years. It is projected that reinsurance will go up another 50% at the time of renewal on June 1st.

If you’re wondering what “reinsurance†is… It’s essentially insurance for insurers. It transfers risk to another company to reduce the likelihood of large payouts for a claim. It’s an extra layer of protection that allows insurers to remain solvent by recovering all or part of a payout.

This system worked great for a while, but now those reinsurance companies are much less interested in the potential risk that Florida property brings. Just in the past 6 years, over $807 billion (with a B) has been paid out in weather related disasters. So, as you can imagine, those reinsurers’ risk appetite for our beautiful state has diminished. The impact of that fallout will be different for each carrier, but significant rate increases are still expected.

From an insurance perspective, we had a rough year in 2022. Rates were at an all-time high, underwriting guidelines were more strict than ever, carriers were going out of business, and our home state was hit with some strong storms causing lots of damage.

Unfortunately for all of us, the reality is that yes… it may get worse before it gets better. We expect this summer, typically the busiest time of year for real estate, to be tough when it comes to home insurance being attainable and affordable. We’ve weathered some major storms, quite literally, in the insurance industry before and well… this too shall pass. We also had two different reform bills passed last year giving us hope for change that will benefit all Florida residents moving forward. And it isn’t like we have a choice to avoid it since it’s still likely a required piece of home buying/selling transactions.

The good news is that we are in this together. We want to help get to closing and for all homeowners to feel confident that they’re adequately protected. Our biggest piece of advice to anyone looking to purchase a home is to START THE PROCESS EARLY when it comes to insurance!