Auto Insurance

Insurance coverage is available for the following types of vehicles:

While insurance for these vehicles may vary somewhat, your Marcum & Associates agent can help you understand the types of insurance you may want to have for your vehicle. The following a discussion of automobile insurance availability usually can be applied to any or all of the above vehicles.

1. Comprehensive Coverage

Comprehensive coverage pays for losses when you experience resulting from damage done to your vehicle other than by a collision between two vehicles. It covers your car if it is stolen or damaged by windstorm, flood, fire or animals. We usually recommend that you select a deductible as high as you feels comfortable paying out of pocket to keep premiums low.

Among the types of damage that are covered under the Comprehensive provision of your policy (less any deductible) are damage done by:

If your windshield or other car windows have a “chip” or a break, Comprehensive insurance usually covers repair of the glass and often covers its replacement without requiring payment of the deductible.

2. Collision Coverage

Collision coverage is the type of insurance you need to cover any damage to your car, less any deductible, when your car hits, or is hit by, another car or object (such as a telephone pole, building or fence) or by upset. This is another area where we suggest as high a deductible as possible to keep premiums low. For an older car/vehicle, consider dropping this coverage since the coverage is normally limited to its cash value.

3. Property Damage Liability

This coverage pays for any damage that your vehicle may do to another person’s vehicle or property. It also pays for legal defense if someone files a lawsuit against you.

4. Medical or Personal Injury Protection

1. Bodily Injury Liability insurance provides protection if you injure or kill someone while operating your car or a car owned by someone else. It also provides for a legal defense if someone involved in the accident files a lawsuit against you.
2. Personal Injury protection is for injuries that you experience while you are involved in an accident.
3. Medical Expense coverage, no-fault or personal injury protection no matter who is at fault.

5. PIP (No Fault) Protection

Because Florida is a no fault state, all Florida drivers are required to carry a minimum of $10,000 of PIP (Personal Injury Protection) or no fault insurance. Your no fault insurance will pay for your medical expenses when you are in an accident, regardless of who is at fault. The insurance will pay for a portion of medical benefits, lost wages and death benefits. The amount paid varies by the company. Your no fault coverage applies in a variety of situations:

1. If you are injured when you are a passenger is someone else’s vehible
2. If you are injured while walking or riding a bicycle
3. If your child is injured on a school bus or is a passenger in a vehicle owned by someone who does not have PIP protection.
   If someone who is a resident of your home is injured.
4. If another qualified driver is driving your vehicle with your permission.

6. Specialized Coverages

1. Gap coverage protects your vehicle’s loan. If your car is totaled in an accident and the insurance company places its value at less than the amount you owe on your loan, gap insurance not only covers you for the remainder of what you owe but also pays any deductible for which you are responsible.
2. Rental reimbursement coverage pays a small amount toward renting a car after an auto accident while your car is being repaired.
3. Personal belongings coverage may pay for damage to the clothing or luggage owned by the insured or the insured’s relative that has been damaged in an auto due to a Comprehensive or Collision loss.
4. Theft coverage may cover the loss of clothing or luggage stolen while left in the auto. It also may repay travel costs beginning 48 hours after the stolen auto is reported to the police and to your insurer. This may include car rental, train or bus or taxi fares within specified maximum limits of the policy.
5. Towing and Labor coverage is an optional insurance available for an additional charge. It may pay a limited amount for towing and/or labor to repair your car where it is disabled. It provides assistance for such common problems as running out of gas, flat tires, dead batteries and lost or locked keys through a 24-hour toll-free hotline.
6. Disablement coverage may pay for travel costs (similar to those explained under “theft” above) if the auto is disabled as the result of a covered loss to repay the insured for travel from the point of disablement to the insured’s destination.

1. Safe Driver Discounts. When every insured driver in the household has a safe driving record for the previous five-year period (accident and violation free and/or no insurance claims), new policyholders can save as much as 10% on their insurance costs. Further discounts are possible when drivers have completed an approved Motor Vehicle Accident Prevention Course.
2. Increased Deductibles. Substantial savings result from increasing the amount of the auto insurance deductibles for collision and comprehensive coverage. Marcum Insurance suggests having deductibles that are as high as customers can comfortably afford in the case of a covered accident.
3. Safety Equipment Installed on the Vehicle. Anti-lock brakes, front-seat airbags, and occupant restraint systems that automatically deploy when doors are closed can bring another discount.
4. Multi-car coverage saves money. Own and insure more than one personal vehicle with Marcum & Associates.
5. Multi-Insurance Coverage with Marcum & Associates. When you also carry insurance on your home, life or business with us, your car insurance rates can be lower.
6. Students with "B" or better averages get lower rates.
7. Premium Paid in Full. Many of the insurance companies Marcum & Associates represents provide a discount when premiums are paid annually or semi-annually rather than on a monthly basis.

While it often is possible to add some insurance coverage on your boat to your Homeowners policy, Boat U.S., the country’s largest recreational boat owners association recommends that boat owners carry separate Boat Insurance, Whatever your boat is insured for, it should have a separate but equal amount of funds available for salvage expenses. This means that you can be compensated for the salvage work, wreck removal, pollution or environmental damage as well as the actual cash value (which can go down due to depreciation) or the previously agreed on value of your boat.

A good insurer will tailor your coverage to fit your needs so that your boat is covered while you trailer your boat to distant locations. Bass fishermen may need fishing gear and tournament coverage. Boaters in temperate climates often carry “freeze damage coverage.” And some companies even provide “hurricane haul-out coverage” to help foot the bill to move your boat to dry ground.

Whether you are riding a sport motorcycle, a cruiser or a dirt bike, you want to be sure that you are fully insured. Through our affiliation with Nationwide Insurance, we can offer coverage up to $50,000 per bike and up to $30,000 on custom parts and equipment, along with multiple stackable discounts of up to 35%. Nationwide currently insures some 97% of the bikes on the road.  You will “Ride with the Best” with Nationwide.

Many of the same principles and coverages involved in Automobile Insurance coverage apply to your motorcycle, including bodily injury and property damage liability, comprehensive and collision, uninsured or underinsured motorist, medical payments and roadside assistant. Check with your Marcum Insurance Agent to find out what kind of insurance you need to protect yourself and your “bike.”

Recreational Vehicle Insurance covers Motor Homes, Travel Trailers, Campers Vans, Pop-Ups and more. Most of the motor vehicle coverages provided in an auto insurance policy apply to RV’s, but there are some additional considerations involved. For example, RV coverage may include Fire Department Service Charge coverage, and the extent of comprehensive and collision coverage may either be for Market Value, an Agreed Value or for Total Replacement Cost. This policy actually combines features of a Homeowners policy as well as of a motor vehicle.
Many factors are involved in RV insurance rates, including whether the RV is used only occasionally or full-time and the type of recreational vehicle you want to insure. Discounts are available for persons who carry other types of insurance through Marcum Insurance. Because we are located in Florida, where RV’s are very popular, we are very familiar with the insurance needs of our RV customers.

Whether you have an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV), a Segway HT, a single prop airplane, commercial automobiles, classic or antique cars, a snowmobile (something that is not very likely in Florida!) or any other type of vehicle, Marcum Insurance can help you obtain the coverage you need.

We have access to most of the nation’s best independent carriers as well as to Nationwide Insurance, and we will work to find a company that will meet your insurance requirements at the best available price.