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Informational Brochures & Consumer Guides

Informational Brochures and Consumer Guides are available for download in icon acrobatPDF Format.

Automobile Insurance Guides

Automobile Insurance: This toolkit outlines the coverage you must have as a Florida resident and explains your other insurance options.

Automobile Insurance Toolkit

English or Spanish

Auto Mediation: The Department of Financial Services stands ready to assist consumers who are having difficulty getting auto insurance claims resolved

Automobile Insurance Claim Disputes

English or Spanish

Financial Guides

Consumers are protected from harassment by collection agencies. This brochure explains your rights when dealing with debt collectors.

Collections

English

Complaint Form

Credit information plays a key role in most homeowners and automobile coverage and rates. Understanding how the system works is your best defense against costly and damaging mistakes.

Credit Scoring

English

Borrowing money for a home or car? Investing in stocks and securities? Insuring your family and possessions? Plenty of frauds and scams are ready to take advantage of you. Learn how to Fight Back Against Fraud in this brochure.

Fight Fraud

English or Spanish

Unclaimed property is a financial asset that has been left inactive by its owner. Unclaimed money is deposited into the state school fund, where it is used for public education.

Unclaimed Property

English

Predatory lenders offer easy access to money but often use high-pressure sales tactics, inflated interest rates, outrageous fees, unaffordable repayment terms and harassing collection tactics.

Predatory Lending

English or Spanish

Consumers are protected from harassment by collection agencies. This brochure explains your rights when dealing with debt collectors.

Home Mortgage Shopping Tips

English

Surplus lines insurance is an alternative type of insurance coverage for consumers who cannot get coverage in the standard or “admitted” market. Standard companies will not write policies for unusual, high-risk situations. Read the brochure to learn more.

Surplus Lines

English

Your financial life is just beginning. Read here for tips dealing with purchasing a car and insurance, signing up for credit cards, and avoiding identity theft and predatory lending.

Young Consumers Guide

English or Spanish

This brochure offers guidelines on your rights as a victim of a crime, what to expect from the legal system, and resources for assistance.

Victims Rights

English or Spanish

Before you borrow, consider these questions to determine if a reverse mortgage is right for you.

Reverse Mortgage Rack Card

English or Spanish

Never make an investment based solely on the recommendation of a member of an organization, religious, or ethnic group to which you belong.

Avoid Affinity Fraud

English

Join the battle against workers' compensation fraud. Learn about the consequences of workers’ compensation fraud and how to report it.

Workers Compensation Fraud

English or Spanish

Health Insurance Guides

Health insurance is an important coverage that can protect you and your family from the devastating financial effects of unexpected health problems or catastrophic illness. Please review the Health Guide for ways to control and manage costs.

Health Insurance Guide

English or Spanish

Long-term care encompasses a wide range of medical, personal and social services. People may need this care if they suffer from prolonged illness, disability or cognitive impairment.

Long Term Care Guide

English

Medicare is an essential health care program for people age 65 and older and people with disabilities. This guide will help you evaluate your health care insurance needs.

Medicare Supplement Guide

English

Your best and official source of answers to your medicare questions.

Medicare and You Guide

English or Spanish

Medical discount cards and plans are being increasingly advertised and promoted. It is essential that you understand their benefits and conditions.

Medical Discount Program

English or Spanish

Life Insurance and Annuity Guides

When considering purchasing an annuity, it is important that you understand your needs and the products that are available to meet them. This guide is designed to point out the differences between life insurance and annuities as investments, and how to find the plan that is right for you.

Life and Annuities Guide

English or Spanish

Viatical settlements provides a life insurance policyholder a cash benefit for a life policy before the death of the insured. This booklet helps define terms used in such settlements and offers guidelines to see whether such an investment is right for you.

Viatical & Life Settlements Guide

English

Answers common questions buyers have regarding the purchase of an annuity.

Annuity Rack Card

English

Questions to ask an agent or agency when considering the purchase of an annuity.

Annuity Purchase Checklist Rack Card

English

Natural Disaster Guides

Your guide to insurance and financial preparation in the event of a natural disaster.

Natural Disaster Guide

English or Spanish

This brochure offers tips on dealing with damage from hurricanes and other natural disasters, including numbers to call for assistance with insurance issues.

Disaster Assistance

English or Spanish

A generator can be your best friend during a hurricane or prolonged power outage. But misused generators can be deadly-causing fires, electrocution or carbon monoxide poisoning.

Generators

English or Spanish

DFS offers the following insurance and financial tips to help you before a hurricane strikes.

Hurricane Tips - Are You Prepared?

English or Spanish

Tie-downs can help prevent damage to your manufactured or mobile home during a storm. They can save you money on insurance, and they’re required by Florida law. Learn more from this publication.

Tie-Downs

English or Spanish

Property Insurance Guides

Homeowners Insurance: This toolkit provides helpful suggestions to prepare you for any type of claim that involves the largest investment you’ve made - your home.

Homeowners' Insurance Toolkit

English or Spanish

Title Insurance: During the home buying process many of us are faced with a barrage of terms and procedures we have never heard of, especially if we are first-time buyers. This publication is designed to help you understand the process.

Title Agents & Title Insurance Guide

English

Residential Mediation: The Department of Financial Services stands ready to assist consumers who are having difficulty getting residential insurance claims resolved

Residential Property Claim Disputes

English or Spanish

Sinkholes are an unpredictable part of the Florida landscape, especially in West Central Florida and the greater Tampa Bay area. Before you buy a home, make sure that you have these bases covered.

Sinkholes and Catastrophic Ground Collapse

English

Settling Your Sinkhole Claim Brochure

English

Forms used for sinkhole claims:

Sinkhole Insurance Claims Request for Neutral Evaluation

Neutral Evaluator's Report

The Department of Financial Services stands ready to assist consumers who are having difficulty getting commercial residential insurance claims resolved.

Commercial Residential Claim Disputes

English

Home Inventory Form

Home Inventory Form

English

The MyHOME Scr.APP.book home inventory application lets you quickly capture images, descriptions, and serial numbers of your prized possessions. The app organizes information by room or by category and even creates a back-up file for email sharing. It is great for determining how much insurance you really need and for filing a claim.

NAIC - Free myHOME Scr.APP.book app for:

iPhone | Android

Small Business Guides

Finding the best insurance plan to protect your business is one of the many important decisions you must make as a small-business owner. This guide explains the required and optional coverage you need to consider.

Small Business Guide

English or Spanish