JNZ Insurance Services is a local, multi-carrier independent agency writing business insurance for St. Augustine companies, from St. George Street storefronts and A1A restaurants to contractors, professional offices, and fleets across Saint Johns County. General liability, BOP, workers comp, commercial auto, commercial property, and specialty coverage, compared across our commercial carriers by a licensed commercial specialist.
Running a business in St. Augustine comes with exposures most of Florida doesn't share in the same combination. The nation's oldest city puts restaurants, inns, galleries, and tour operators inside centuries-old buildings in the historic district, a few blocks from the Matanzas River. Visitor traffic swells around the holidays and Nights of Lights and shapes revenue for months at a time. Out on Anastasia Island, Vilano Beach, and St. Augustine Beach, coastal storefronts carry real wind and flood exposure, while the 32092 and 32095 corridors around World Golf Village and Palencia keep adding offices, medical practices, and the contractors who build Saint Johns County.
Business insurance here isn't one product. It's a set of commercial policies that have to fit together: general liability for your customers and contracts, property and business income coverage for your building and equipment, workers compensation once you have employees, commercial auto for anything on the road, and specialty coverage for professional advice, cyber risk, construction, or auto service. JNZ is family-owned, founded in 2006, and based right here, with an office on Hampton Point Dr. We review the whole operation, shop each line across our appointed commercial carriers and specialty markets, and explain why one structure costs more than another before you decide.
Every commercial line we write, with what it means for a local business. Each one links to a full guide to the coverage.
Older and historic-district buildings cost more to rebuild than their market value suggests, and repairs may have to meet current building codes and preservation standards. We review building valuation and ordinance or law coverage on every commercial property policy so a partial loss doesn't turn into an uninsured upgrade.
Coastal Florida commercial property commonly carries a separate named-storm or hurricane deductible written as a percentage of the insured value, not a flat dollar amount. On a valuable building that can mean a very large out-of-pocket number. We show you the deductible options before a storm forms, because carriers restrict changes once one is approaching.
Commercial property and BOP policies exclude flood. Downtown, bayfront, and beachside businesses learned that during Hurricanes Matthew and Irma. Commercial flood insurance through the NFIP tops out at $500,000 for the building and $500,000 for contents, so higher-value properties may need excess or private flood on top.
When a tourism-driven business closes after a covered loss, the lost income during peak season can outweigh the physical damage. Business income and extra expense coverage needs limits sized to your real busy-season revenue, not an average month, and enough time for repairs in a slow post-storm contractor market.
Saint Johns County has been one of the fastest-growing counties in Florida, which keeps local trades busy and puts contractor compliance under a microscope. Florida requires workers comp for construction businesses with even one employee, and general contractors are typically responsible for subcontractors who aren't covered or properly exempt.
Commercial landlords, property managers, event organizers, and general contractors routinely require specific limits, additional insured status, and waivers of subrogation. We read the insurance section of your lease or contract, build the policy to match it, and turn around certificates of insurance quickly so a job or a move-in date doesn't slip.
Florida law requires very little business insurance directly. Workers compensation is mandatory for non-construction businesses with four or more employees (full-time and part-time combined), for construction businesses with one or more employees, and for agricultural operations with six or more regular or twelve or more seasonal workers. Vehicles titled to the business must meet Florida's auto insurance requirements, and heavier commercial trucks carry higher state financial-responsibility minimums based on vehicle weight, which is where commercial auto comes in.
Most of the coverage a St. Augustine business actually carries is required by someone else: a landlord, a lender, a client contract, a franchise agreement, or a licensing board. The practical question isn't "what's the legal minimum" but "what would this business need to survive a serious claim, and what have I already agreed to carry." We review both during every commercial quote.
$1M / $2M
$1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate. The limit most St. Augustine commercial leases and client contracts ask for, and a sensible floor for most small businesses.
$1M / $2M + umbrella
The same primary limits with a $1 million to $5 million commercial umbrella on top. Typical for restaurants serving alcohol, fleets, contractors, and anyone signing larger contracts.
Every operation is different, but these are the commercial insurance combinations we put together most often for local businesses.
From St. George Street to A1A: general liability with liquor liability if you serve alcohol, a BOP or commercial property for kitchen equipment and spoilage, workers comp for staff, and an umbrella above it all.
Historic-district and shopping-center retailers usually fit a BOP covering premises liability, inventory, and business income, with cyber liability for card and online-order data.
Older buildings, overnight guests, and storm exposure call for careful commercial property valuation, general liability, separate flood, and cyber for online reservations and guest data.
Tour operators, shuttle services, and delivery businesses need commercial auto with liability limits that match the passengers or cargo you carry, plus general liability and a commercial umbrella.
Roofers, remodelers, electricians, HVAC, landscapers, and pool contractors: contractors insurance packages, workers comp or a valid exemption, commercial auto, and builders risk for projects.
Consultants, real estate offices, accountants, and practices in the 32092 and 32095 corridors usually pair a BOP with professional liability / E&O and cyber liability.
Customer vehicles on your lot aren't covered by general liability alone. Garage and dealer insurance adds garagekeepers and dealer's open lot coverage alongside workers comp.
Owners of storefronts, offices, and small apartment buildings need commercial property with loss of rents, landlord general liability, and flood where the location calls for it.
A homeowners policy typically offers little or no coverage for business activity. Startups and home-based businesses often start with general liability or a BOP and add lines as they hire and grow.
A captive agent can only offer one company's commercial insurance. As an independent agency, JNZ quotes the same business across multiple appointed commercial carriers, and through wholesale and specialty markets when a risk needs one, such as a waterfront building, a bar with late hours, or a contractor with a higher-hazard trade. One carrier may decline a class of business that another actively wants to write, so shopping matters more in commercial lines than in personal lines.
Gaps usually appear between policies, not inside them: a delivery driver using a personal car with no hired and non-owned auto coverage, a lease that requires additional insured status nobody added, a business income limit that only covers two slow months, or an umbrella that doesn't sit over every underlying policy. We look at your general liability, property, auto, workers comp, and umbrella together, so the pieces line up.
Certificates of insurance, adding a vehicle or a location, payroll audits, and claims all go faster with a local team that already knows your business. Our St. Augustine office on Hampton Point Dr. serves businesses across the area, and most everyday policy work happens by phone, email, or video. We re-market your commercial insurance at renewal when rates or carrier appetite change.
We write commercial insurance through standard carriers, small-business specialists, and wholesale and specialty markets. Which ones fit depends on your industry, revenue, payroll, building, and claims history.
That's the point of an independent agency: the same business is priced and underwritten differently across our appointments, and we show you what each one does with the same set of facts.
Carrier appointments vary by line and state. Available carriers depend on your specific situation and underwriting eligibility.
We write business and commercial insurance across St. Augustine and the surrounding area, including downtown and the historic district, St. Augustine Beach, Anastasia Island, Vilano Beach, St. Augustine Shores, Crescent Beach, World Golf Village, Palencia, Nocatee, Ponte Vedra, Hastings, and Elkton, covering the 32080, 32084, 32086, 32092, and 32095 ZIP codes. We also write commercial coverage throughout Saint Johns County, in Jacksonville and Duval County, and across Florida and Georgia where licensing and carrier appointments allow.
Send us your current declarations pages and any lease or contract insurance requirements, give us a call, or request a free quote. We'll review your commercial insurance and walk you through the options across our appointed carriers.
