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.