As the owner of five insurance agencies in Tennessee, and with more than two decades of experience, Michael Fields knows his way around the insurance business.
When their only daughter, Bethany, graduated from Ole Miss University and took a job in Tampa, Michael and his wife Nancy decided to move to the area, too.
In 2021, Michael acquired a Brandon-based insurance agency and Nancy retired after 33 years as a schoolteacher to help her husband with the newest branch of the family business.
Over the past two years, they have bought a home in Grand Hampton and decided to move the agency to the Medallion Corporate Park, just north of S.R. 56 and east of I-75.
Now, they have set down roots, are leaning in to their new community and are excited to help their neighbors.
“We treat people like they want to be treated,” says Michael. “It’s important to be a person of integrity, and a person who can be trusted.”
Fields Insurance helps people with personal and commercial property and casualty insurance. That’s primarily auto, home, renter, boat and motorcycle insurance, although they also write some life insurance policies, as well. Michael says that, since coming to Florida, he’s also written a lot of policies for vacation homes, condos and mobile homes. His agency helps both individuals and businesses, including offering business property and liability insurance.
One designation that sets Fields Insurance apart is being recognized as a “Ramsey Endorsed Local Provider.” Dave Ramsey is an author and radio host who offers financial advice. While he’s recognized nationwide, he’s based out of Nashville, so Michael says Ramsey is extremely popular in his home state. People who take Ramsey’s classes and want to be connected with a trusted partner can be directed to Fields Insurance.
“It puts us in a category that says we are an agency of integrity,” says Michael. “We always try to give you the insurance you need at a price that best fits within your budget.”
While Michael will always strive to get his clients the best possible insurance at the lowest possible price to fulfill their needs, he says the most important thing is that he finds them the right insurance.
“We are educational in the way we approach business,” he says. “We make sure people don’t sacrifice coverage to get the lowest rate.”
The Challenges Of Florida
Michael says that right now, prices across the board for auto and especially, homeowners insurance in Florida are very high, and that’s something that is out of his control. However, he says you can trust his agency to work with you and always act in your best interest.
He adds that as an independent agency, Fields Insurance is able to work with a number of different top-rated companies, including Liberty Mutual, Allstate, Nationwide, Progressive, Safeco, Florida Peninsula, Slide, Cabrillo Coastal and more, although the companies that are writing new homeowners policies in Florida right now are definitely limited.
A Little History
Michael started out in the insurance business in 1999 in Memphis as an associate agent with Nationwide Insurance. In 2011, he went through a three-year training program as a “replacement agency executive” and became the primary agent at that location in 2014.
In 2017, Nationwide made all of its agents independent, so he no longer sells exclusively Nationwide products. Since then, Michael has opened four more agencies in Tennessee and one in Florida.
Wade and Pamela Simpson, who live in Seffner, were at a loss when they inherited a family home in Dunellon that was built in 1986 and still had its original roof.
“I had been with State Farm for 25-30 years and they couldn’t help me,” says Wade. “I couldn’t even get other companies to talk with me. I was calling everyone and someone suggested this new company in the area, Fields Insurance. So I called, and Michael answered the phone.”
Wade adds that he couldn’t believe the west Tennessee dialect he was hearing — which sounded exactly like his own — and that he and Michael discovered they were born and raised in neighboring towns in Tennessee.
While it was fun to discover that connection, Wade says that what really stood out was how Fields Insurance was able to get a policy for his newly inherited home when others couldn’t.
“I have recommended Fields Insurance to two dozen people in the last six months,” says Wade. “I say, ‘Quit calling everybody. Call Fields!’”
Wade says that his State Farm agent later told him that his policy on a home he owns in Tennessee was going to be cancelled, so he reached out to Fields Insurance again, and again, Michael was able to help.
“I saved tons of money,” Wade says, so he also switched his policy on his Seffner home to Fields Insurance, as well. “What a relief!”
Wade also says that, for many years, he has rented a parking lot to park cars in during the Plant City Strawberry Festival. Last year, the doctor he rents the parking lot from told Wade he needed to have a $1-million liability policy.
“I didn’t have a clue who to talk to about that,” Wade says, “so I called Fields and they had a policy for me within a week.”
And, Wade adds, “Talk about customer service! They called me again (a few weeks ago) to ask if I need another policy for this year’s Strawberry Festival” (which begins Feb. 29).
Michael says he invites those who are insurance price shopping or who have questions about insurance to give him a call anytime.
“Quotes are free,” he says, “and it doesn’t hurt to get a quote. We try to work with everyone the best we possibly can and make it as simple as possible.”
And, Nancy adds that they love serving the communities of Wesley Chapel and New Tampa.
“We love the community connection here,” she says. “We’ve gotten season tickets to the Bucs and we’ve gone to Lightning games with our daughter. We love all the restaurants and how close everything is to us here.”
Fields Insurance is located at 2600 Cypress Ridge Blvd., Ste. C1, in Wesley Chapel. For more information or for a quote on your home, auto, business or other property insurance needs, call (813) 651-0094, visit FieldsInsuranceAgency.com.
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