Check the agent and the policy before you pay
Most agents are exactly who they say they are. The people who are not tend to work the same way: a cash or app payment, an ID card or certificate that looks right, and no policy behind it. Each check below takes a few minutes and costs nothing.
What the law requires of anyone who sells insurance
Under F.S. 626.112, nobody may act as, advertise as or present themselves as an insurance agent or adjuster in Florida unless they are currently licensed by the Department of Financial Services and appointed by an appropriate appointing entity or person, such as an insurer. The licence is public, so you can check it before you hand over any money.
Four checks, in this order
Look up the licence
Search the person's name, and the agency's, in the Department of Financial Services licensee search at licenseesearch.fldfs.com. Check that the licence is active and covers the kind of insurance you are buying.
Confirm with the insurer directly
Find the insurer's customer service number on its own website, not on the paperwork you were given, and ask whether a policy exists in your name, with its number and start date.
Pay the insurer or the agency, never a person
A request to pay a personal account, in cash or through a payment app, is the pattern in the fake policy cases the state has prosecuted. Ask for a receipt that names the insurer.
Read the first page of the policy
Under F.S. 626.924, a surplus lines policy must carry printed warnings on its first page: that it comes under the Florida Surplus Lines Law, that the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association does not protect it, and that its rates and forms are not approved by any Florida regulator.
What a check costs
Nothing. The licensee search is free and public, and so is a call to the insurer. Compare that with what a fake policy costs: the premium is gone, and the gap usually shows up only after a crash or a storm, when there is no coverage to claim on.
Surplus lines is legal, and different
A surplus lines policy is a lawful way to insure something regular insurers will not take. The difference is the safety net: if a surplus lines insurer fails, the state guaranty association does not step in. Know which kind you are buying.
If something is wrong
Report an unlicensed seller, or a policy that does not exist, to the Department of Financial Services at myfloridacfo.com. Keep the receipts, messages and documents you were given.
A comparison form is not an agent
A website form that collects your details may pass them to several agencies at once. Before you type your phone number, check who will receive it.
What this touches
Questions people actually ask
How do I check if an insurance agent is licensed in Florida?
Use the Department of Financial Services licensee search at licenseesearch.fldfs.com. Search by name or licence number and check that the licence is active.
How do I know my policy is real?
Call the insurer on a number you found yourself and ask it to confirm the policy number, the named insured and the dates. An ID card or certificate on its own proves nothing.
What is a surplus lines policy?
Insurance from a company that is not licensed as a regular Florida insurer, placed through a surplus lines agent. F.S. 626.924 requires a printed warning on the first page that the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association does not protect it.
Other situations
Work it out before anybody sells you anything
Four calculators that run in your browser, a page for every situation Florida puts people in, and the claims data for your own county. All of it free, and none of it behind a form. The form is for the other half of the job: when you have read enough and want a person on the phone.
Leave a name and a number. This site is not an agency and employs nobody who can sell you a policy; it passes your request to a licensed Florida agent, who calls you. No obligation, and no call from six companies you have never heard of.
Your request goes to a licensed Florida agent, who may call, text or email you about it. That agent does not work for this site.