GEICO Wesley Chapel — Where You Can ‘Shop Local’ For Insurance!

Jaime Bryant (in white shirt) & his friendly staff at the GEICO local office on BBD Blvd. in Wesley Chapel can help you with many types of insurance without having to call a 1-800 number. (Photos by Charmaine George)

If you’re like most people, you probably know GEICO Insurance from the company’s countless television commercials offering low rates with a 1-800 phone number. 

What you might not know is that you can get the same GEICO products — and much more personalized service — by calling the local GEICO office, where real people who live and work in our community answer the phone. You can work with an agent who knows your name, understands local insurance issues and wants to help you navigate the complicated world of insurance to find what’s best for you. 

The Wesley Chapel local office of GEICO is owned by Jaime Bryant and is located in the Northwoods shopping center, which is anchored by Super Target just north of County Line Rd., on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd.

While GEICO is mostly known for its auto insurance — insuring close to 30 million vehicles — the company also offers insurance for homes, condos, rental apartments, boats/watercrafts, jewelry, floods, mobile homes/RVs, motorcycles and umbrella policies, which provide extended liability coverage for people with a lot of assets. 

With hurricane season fast approaching, Jaime says it’s important to be prepared. 

“Last year was a busy year, and this season is expected to be slightly above average,” he says. 

Jaime also says that one thing many people are unaware of is that if their home is damaged by a hurricane or tropical storm, the policy has different terms than if the damage is caused by wind unrelated to a named storm. 

“People don’t realize it’s a higher deductible,” he explains. “Ideally before storm season, but definitely before you contact anyone to repair the damage at your home, be sure you know what your out-of-pocket cost will be.” 

After a storm, you may have companies offering to replace your roof. To know whether or not you should move forward with the replacement, you need to know how much of that cost will be your responsibility. 

“For example,” Jaime says, “a roofer will file a claim, the insured will get paid, but insurance only covers half because of the deductible. It’s really important to know what your deductible is and make sure you can pay that deductible before moving forward with those repairs.” 

And, he says, now is the time to shop for new homeowner’s insurance. If you’re thinking of changing policies, or if your policy renews during hurricane season, sometimes a storm comes through and companies pause writing new policies for 30 to 45 days. In that case, you can’t get immediate coverage. “You need to be proactive with homeowner’s insurance during hurricane season,” Jaime says. “Time is not your friend.” 

He adds that right now is a good time to shop for new auto insurance, too. 

“Rates have stabilized and a lot of people are finding lower prices now,” Jaime says. 

Jaime’s office has 10 agents, all of whom are experienced and trained to help you get the right insurance for you and your needs. Each person’s situation is unique, so a local agent can be sure to ask you the right questions to get the right policies in place. 

Jaime has lived in the Tampa Bay area for more than 20 years and is a University of South Florida graduate with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree. He worked for GEICO in Lakeland for 16 years, prior to opening the Wesley Chapel office. 

He says calling his office, instead of the 1-800 number, ensures that you’re talking with someone who understands Florida and the New Tampa/Wesley Chapel area specifically. 

“We want to make sure you don’t have too much or too little insurance for your situation,” he says. “Nothing’s ever one-size-fits-all.” 

Andrea Shank is a long-time GEICO customer who was comfortable using GEICO’s online tools and never considered working with a local agent. When her brother recently passed away, her mom was dealing with a probate process and needed to insure vehicles that weren’t registered in her name yet. Andrea’s mom had previously worked with someone in the Wesley Chapel office, so they reached out and connected with George, one of Jaime’s local agents. 

Andrea says George spent most of that entire day serving them — answering questions, getting verification on complicated questions, researching answers, calling back, sending forms for them to fill out, etc. – but she says that what stood out was the compassionate way George treated her mom during the difficult loss of her son, which was completely unexpected. 

“He was so patient with her,” Andrea says. “He was funny, and made my mom laugh, which was pretty wonderful in that circumstance.” 

Andrea adds that he also took the time to share a personal recommendation for a company that could help her mom modify the vehicles to adjust the pedals, even emailing her contact information after business hours. 

“He went so far above and beyond, it was amazing to me,” Andrea says. “The level of customer service he provided is a startling contrast from what we’ve come to expect.” 

In fact, she says, she’s already referred her nephew, sister and best friend to the office. 

“No doubt,” she says, “I will not go back to an online situation. We all get used to what we buy and don’t think about making changes, even when our circumstances change. That’s something we should look at. I will definitely continue to call George, because it was such a nice experience.” 

The GEICO-Wesley Chapel local office is located at 1227 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. It is open Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m., and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sat. For more information, visit GEICO.com/Wesley-Chapel-Bryant or call (813) 953-4200.

GEICO Wesley Chapel’s Local Office Wants To Help You Get Covered! 


Instead of calling a 1-800 number, if you need almost any kind of insurance, walk into the GEICO local office owned by Jaime Bryant (in blue in front) in the Super Target-anchored Northwoods Plaza on BBD Blvd. at County Line Rd. to meet with a live agent. (Photos by Charmaine George) 

It seems that these days, whenever you go on social media, you find someone saying, “My insurance rates have gone up!” But, in our all-electronic, virtual world, being able to go to a physical location to speak with an insurance expert can make a big difference. 

In case you still didn’t know it, sitting in the Super Target-anchored Northwoods Plaza on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., at County Line Rd., is a team of insurance experts. Just walk into the Wesley Chapel local office of GEICO Insurance, where actual live people can help you with a wide variety of insurance needs. 

Owner and long-time Wesley Chapel resident Jaime Bryant opened the office in December of 2020, but he began working for GEICO in 2004, after earning his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of South Florida. He also received his Florida 2-20 Resident General Lines License (which allows him to provide property, casualty, surety, marine, health and miscellaneous insurance lines, including auto, motorcycle, boats/watercraft, homes, condos, RVs, renters and even pet insurance) to ensure that his local GEICO office can provide you with virtually any type of insurance you may need. 

Jaime says his GEICO local office can write policies for your “home, auto, commercial auto, motorcycle, condo, rental apartment, boat/watercraft, jewelry, flood mobile homes/RVs and umbrella policies.” 

An umbrella policy provides added protection beyond your existing limits and coverages of other policies. Jaime says, “Umbrella policies are good for someone who has a lot of assets.” 

When you call or walk into Jaime’s local GEICO office, an agent can take your information, which is then used to customize whatever policies you may want to your specific needs. 

As for GEICO’s rates, although there’s been a lot of discussion these days about rising insurance rates, especially here in Florida, Jaime says, “While everyone has seen some increases in their premiums, the market now appears to be stabilizing, with most (but not all) insurance premiums staying about the same.” 

Help For Home & Condo Owners 

If you need home or condominium insurance, dates may come into play. In most cases, a condo or townhome can be any age. But, for homes, mobile homes and RVs, GEICO can issue you a policy, as long as your home was built in 1995 or later. 

Jaime, Elliot and Shannon Bryant hope you will visit their GEICO local office for your insurance needs! 

Homeowner policies will cover not just the home itself, but also attached structures such as garages, lanais and even fences, as well as any personal property inside the home. These policies, in most cases, also will include liability coverage, which will protect you in the event someone gets injured in your home, although additional liability insurance is sometimes required. Jaime says your GEICO agent can assist you with finding all of the requirements for your perfect policy. 

“For example,” he says, “Your homeowners insurance will usually have hurricane coverage. In the state of Florida, GEICO requires policies to have hurricane coverage, which will include damage caused by tropical storms. In order for this coverage to kick in, the storm causing the damage has to be a named storm. For non-named storms, the claim would be under ‘wind damage.’” 

With hurricane season now just a few days away from starting, Jaime says this is a good time to visit the GEICO local office to see what he and his staff can do for you. 

In addition, while Wesley Chapel is not in a major flood zone, Jaime and his crew can still provide you with flood insurance. 

He says, “Just because flood insurance isn’t required here, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have it. Flood insurance will cover water that is coming into your home from your property — for example, from rain that is not from a hurricane, a sewer, or an overflowing pond.” 

He adds, “People don’t think they will find themselves in these situations, but when they do, they wish they would have had the insurance. Plus, flood insurance is not very expensive to add to your homeowners policy.” 

The Buying Power Of ‘Bundling’ 

Jaime says that GEICO’s rates are very competitive and your live agent will always check for all possible discounts. As one of the largest insurance companies in the U.S., GEICO also offers discounts for “bundling” different policies together. 

For example, Jaime says that bundling your home and auto policies together will qualify you for discounts on both policies. “It doesn’t always end up costing you less than buying them separately,” he says, “but it usually does.” 

He adds, “But, when you bundle multiple GEICO policies together though, because GEICO (which is owned by Berkshire Hathaway) is such a large company, at least you don’t have to worry about us leaving the state (as so many other insurance companies have over the past few years).” He also notes that auto and renters insurance also are often bundled, “because the renters insurance will then either be free or cost pennies on the dollar, which is probably the biggest savings you get by bundling.” 

When you own a boat, Jaime says that whether you bundle it with your homeowners policy or not, “Boat/watercraft insurance is one of our most competitively priced products on the market.” Other GEICO policies with competitive rates include for recreation vehicles (RVs), travel trailers and mobile/manufactured homes. 

For the best possible information, Jaime says it’s always a good idea to, “Stop by and speak to one of our agents, rather than calling the GEICO 1-800 number. Our people can help you find the policy (or policies) you need at the best possible rates.” 

In addition, Jaime says that if you or your family members or friends who need insurance would prefer to speak to someone in Spanish, he has bilingual agents who can assist them with that, too. 

Giving Back… 

Jaime gives back to our community and to some organizations that he says are near and dear to his heart. The office will be sponsoring a golf tournament for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. This nonprofit organization has made a promise to the children of fallen U.S. Special Operations personnel and the children of all service members awarded the Medal of Honor by providing full education and additional opportunities for them. 

Jaime, who lives with his wife Shannon and their two-year-old son Elliot in Wesley Chapel, says he also will sponsor the Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) at Wharton High next year. He also sponsors the sports tickets for Wiregrass Ranch High and has provided folders for Double Branch, New River and Watergrass elementaries in Wesley Chapel. 

The GEICO Wesley Chapel local office is located at 1227 BBD Blvd. The office is open Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.- 6:30 p.m., and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sat. For more information, call (813) 953- 4200 or feel free to stop by the office in person. You also can visit GEICO.com/insurance-agents/florida/tampa/ jaime-bryant/

GEICO’s Wesley Chapel Local Office Delivers Personalized Service

By GARY NAGER & KATHERINE PATTERSON

(Above) The friendly staff at the GEICO-Wesley Chapel local office (photo on next page) in the SuperTarget plaza on Bruce B. Downs Blvd. (just north of County Line Rd.) can help provide you with a wide variety of insurance products. (Photos by Charmaine George)   

After the devastating hurricane season of 2022, when much of Southwest Florida was blasted by Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole took a similar toll on much of central and eastern Florida, more and more people across the Sunshine State are concerned about making sure their homes are properly insured. 

Between the company’s entertaining television ads featuring an adorable talking gecko, and its high customer satisfaction ratings, it’s easy to see why GEICO has become one of the top insurance companies in the state of Florida. 

Jaime Bryant opened the local GEICO-Wesley Chapel office on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. (in the SuperTarget-anchored Northwoods Plaza) with nine employees in Dec. 2020, or a little more than two years ago. Since he and his wife Shannon had been living in Wesley Chapel (and they now have a year-old son, Elliot), he decided to open a local office, after working for GEICO’s corporate office in Lakeland for 16 years. 

“The Wesley Chapel area has seen a lot of growth and a lot of changes the past few years,” Bryant says. “People are moving to this area to start and raise their families. In order to establish roots here, they need to be properly insured. That’s where we come in.”

He says that as far as homeowners (and hurricane) insurance is concerned, GEICO sells policies underwritten by Homesite Insurance, but Bryant says he and his on-site agents can tailor those policies to each homeowner’s specific needs. “We sell policies for homes built in 2002 or newer,” he says. “If it’s a mobile or manufactured home, it’s 1995 or newer. If it’s a condo or townhome, in most cases, they can be any age.” 

He adds that since townhomes don’t require a full homeowners policy, since those owners share some of their space and, “there is a master policy that covers the roof and the exterior, so they only need to cover the interior, which is a lot cheaper.”  

He also notes that brand new homes — and there are many here in the Wesley Chapel area, in particular — “are generally less expensive to insure because they have newer roofs and are being built to higher standards” than older homes.

Homeowners policies generally cover the dwelling/home itself, but also any other structures — garages, sheds, lanais, fences, etc. — as well as the personal property inside the home, including furniture, appliances, electronics, clothing, jewelry, etc. 

“There’s also loss of use coverage, for if you’re ever displaced from your home by damage and have to live in a hotel,” he says. “It even includes money for dining out while you’re displaced.”

He adds that the same policy also generally includes personal liability coverage. “In other words, if anyone gets hurt in your home, it protects you from being sued. Some people do also require additional liability coverage, however.”

Hurricane insurance also is generally included with your homeowners policy, although Bryant says that it gives you a higher deductible, “usually around 2% of your home’s value.” If you have a home worth $500,000, that means you’d be liable for only the first $10,000 worth of damage from a hurricane. He says that here in Florida, all GEICO policies require hurricane coverage, although some other companies will try to get you a lower deductible — usually only $1,000-$2,500 — by not including hurricane coverage, which also covers damage caused by tropical storms, “as long as they’re also named storms. For non-named storms, those claims are usually covered under ‘wind damage.’”

As for flooding inside your home, whether caused by a hurricane, tropical storm, broken pipes, sewer backup, roof leaks, etc., Bryant says that because most of Wesley Chapel and New Tampa are not in high-threat flood zones that require flood insurance, most homeowners here choose not to get it. 

“But, that doesn’t mean that it’s not a good idea to have it,” he says. “If your sewer backs up or the pond near your home overflows, it’s possible you could need a flood insurance policy, which isn’t usually too expensive to add.

Reasons To ‘Bundle’ Policies 

One of the things that GEICO’s TV commercials have focused on in recent years is insurance policy “bundling.” Bryant says that bundling, for example,  your home and auto policies together will qualify you for discounts on both policies. “It doesn’t always end up costing you less than buying them separately, but it usually does,” he says. “But, when you bundle multiple policies together through GEICO,” he adds, because GEICO, which is owned by Berkshire Hathaway, is such a large company, “you don’t have to worry about us leaving the state (as many other insurance companies have over the past few years).” 

He also notes that auto and renters insurance also are often bundled, “because the renters insurance will then either be free or cost pennies on the dollar, which is probably the biggest savings you get by bundling.” 

When you own a boat, Bryant says that whether you bundle it with your homeowners policy or not, “that’s one of our most competitively priced products on the market.” Other competitively priced policies include for recreation vehicles (RVs), travel trailers and mobile/manufactured homes. 

Bryant began working for GEICO in 2004, after earning his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of South Florida. He also received his Florida 2-20 Resident General Lines License (which allows him to provide property, casualty, surety, marine, health and miscellaneous insurance lines, including auto, motorcycle, boats/watercraft, homes, condos, RVs, renters and even pet insurance) to ensure that his local GEICO office can provide people with virtually any type of insurance they need. 

“We’re a one-stop shop for all of your insurance needs,” he says. “Come on in and talk to one of our local agents, rather than just call a 1-800 number, because we get to know you as a person and can tailor all of your policies to your specific needs. “With insurance, one size definitely doesn’t fit all.”

Although GEICO also offers a lot of information on the phone or by visiting GEICO.com, Bryant says that anyone in Wesley Chapel (or New Tampa) seeking insurance (or information about insurance) for the first time should come into his office to talk to someone who knows the area, the community and what insurance policies will best serve your needs. while you may not need the highest level of coverage, you also shouldn’t always choose the lowest possible price for your coverage, either.

Your local GEICO office also participates in local community events, such as the recent Easter Egg Hunt event at the Tampa Premium Outlets, golf tournaments and more. 

The GEICO–Wesley Chapel local office is located at 1227 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. The office is open Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-7 p.m., and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sat. For more info, call (813) 953-4200, visit GEICO.com/Wesley-Chapel-Bryant.