Pinoy General Insurance Services

Pinoy General Insurance Services We are an independent insurance agency serving people's insurance needs since 1993. We serve all types of insurance and represent plenty of companies.

Call us today to let us help you with your needs!

09/02/2026

The van has your last name on the side. You've paid the insurance every month since 2011. And the first question the adjuster asks after an accident isn't about the crash — it's about what you were doing.

That answer is the whole story.

A personal auto policy is priced on the assumption that you drive to work, to church, to the mall, to your mom's house in Artesia. It was never priced for a vehicle that generates revenue. So when the trip exists because a customer is paying you, the business use exclusion is sitting right there in the policy — where it has been the entire time.

The line isn't the vehicle. It's what the vehicle was doing at the moment of the loss.

There are four moments where a California personal auto policy quietly stops covering a work vehicle. Call us and we'll walk through all four against your actual policy, at no charge: (562) 402-1737

09/01/2026

Here's what's actually been approved in California, which explains most of what people are seeing on renewals right now:

State Farm — a 17% emergency interim increase on homeowners policies and 32.8% on rental dwelling policies, through a March 2026 settlement with the Department of Insurance.

Mercury Insurance — a 6.9% average homeowners increase approved in December 2025, effective July 2026. Important caveat: the average is not the experience. The actual change depends on individual wildfire risk, with some customers seeing increases up to 60% and others seeing decreases up to 10%.

The California FAIR Plan — a 29.1% average statewide increase, effective October 15, 2026.

Across the market, one industry projection puts California's 2026 home insurance increase at 16% — roughly four times the national average.

Three forces are behind it: reinsurance costs, which California recently began allowing carriers to reflect in filings; rebuild cost, which is labor and materials rather than what your lot is worth; and the FAIR Plan, which grew 44% between fall 2024 and the end of 2025 to more than 668,600 policies statewide.

Bring us your renewal before you sign it. (562) 402-1737

08/30/2026

The permit took eight months. The build took eleven. Then your mother-in-law lived in the back house for a year and everything was fine.

She moved to Daly City. The unit sat empty. And now a coworker's nephew is in it paying $2,200 on the first of every month.

Your homeowners policy just quietly became the wrong policy.

Homeowners insurance is written for owner-occupied residential use. Renting to a tenant is a commercial use — most policies either exclude it or require it to be disclosed and endorsed. And here's the question people talk themselves out of:

Rent from a relative is still rent.

If someone is paying you for that space — cousin, in-law, family friend — the carrier needs to know. An undisclosed rental unit is a coverage problem waiting for a claim, and a non-renewal problem waiting for an inspection.

Tell us the square footage, roughly what it cost to build, and what you're charging. We'll tell you whether your carrier will endorse it or whether a separate landlord policy is cheaper. (562) 402-1737

08/28/2026

California law puts deadlines on your insurance company. Almost nobody knows them, and knowing them changes how a claim feels.

15 days — your insurer must provide claim forms, including the proof of loss, within 15 days of receiving notice of your claim.

40 calendar days — insurers must accept or deny your claim within 40 days of receiving proof of claim. Not "when they get to it." Forty days.

60 days for proof of loss — with an exception. Many policies require a sworn proof of loss within 60 days of the insurer's request. But when a state of emergency has been declared, that requirement can't be enforced if it would require submission sooner than 100 days after the loss.

24 months, extendable to 36 — for claims relating to a state-declared emergency, insurers must offer additional living expenses for at least 24 months, and must grant an extension of up to 12 more months where a policyholder acting in good faith hits reconstruction delays outside their control.

You aren't waiting on somebody's goodwill. You're inside a regulated process with clocks in it, and you're allowed to reference them politely.

(562) 402-1737

08/25/2026

Your home insurance policy has four different opinions about water. Most people only have one.

Where the water came from decides everything.

A pipe bursts in the wall or the water heater gives out? Generally covered. Sudden and accidental is what the standard policy is built for.

A slow leak under the shower that's been soaking the subfloor for six months? Generally not covered. Most policies exclude gradual seepage as a maintenance issue. This is the one that produces the hardest phone calls, because the damage is very real.

Sewage or water coming up through your drains? That's a separate endorsement — excluded on the standard policy and added back for usually a modest amount per year. If you're in an older neighborhood with older sewer laterals, and much of Cerritos and Artesia is, this one is worth asking about.

Water flowing across the ground into your house? That's flood, and no homeowners policy in the country covers it. You need a separate flood policy. And in Southern California this connects straight to fire — burn scars shed water instead of soaking it up, so debris flow risk downstream sticks around for years after the flames are out. Plenty of flood claims nationally come from homes that were never in a high-risk zone.

Three things to ask about your policy: do you have water backup coverage, do you have any flood coverage, and does anyone know your flood zone?

Same word. Four different answers. We'll go through all four with you — free, no obligation.

(562) 402-1737 | 17304 Norwalk Blvd, Cerritos

08/24/2026

Run this math on your own house. It takes four minutes.

Percentage deductibles in California are typically set between 2% and 5% of the home's insured value — and in some policies range from 1% to 15% or more.

Take a $650,000 dwelling limit, which is not unusual for a Cerritos or Artesia home at current rebuild costs:

Flat $2,500 deductible → a $30,000 kitchen fire pays you $27,500.
2% deductible → the same fire pays $17,000. You fund $13,000.
5% wildfire deductible on a total loss → the first $32,500 is yours, in cash, in the same month you also lost your house and everything in it.

That last one is worth sitting with. A percentage deductible on a total loss isn't a bill you pay down over time. It's a lump sum you need available while you're paying a mortgage on a house that no longer exists and rent on somewhere to sleep.

The honest question isn't "what deductible saves me the most." It's "what's the largest check I could write today, without borrowing?"

(562) 402-1737 — we'll read all four of your deductibles at no charge.

08/22/2026

There are two words on your home insurance policy that decide what your claim check actually looks like. Most people have never gone looking for them.

Replacement Cost or Actual Cash Value.

Replacement Cost pays what it takes to replace what was damaged, at today's prices. Actual Cash Value pays that same amount minus depreciation for age and wear.

Here's what that looks like on a roof. Say yours is 18 years old and a full replacement quotes at $30,000. Replacement Cost pays $30,000 minus your deductible. Actual Cash Value looks at how much useful life is gone — call it 72% — and the check comes out closer to $8,400.

The roof still costs $30,000. You cover the difference.

Three things to look for this week:

Your dwelling and your contents can be set differently. Plenty of California policies are Replacement Cost on the house and Actual Cash Value on everything inside it.

Check for a separate roof endorsement. As carriers have tightened up in California, more of them apply depreciation to older roofs even when the rest of the policy is Replacement Cost.

See if you have Extended Replacement Cost. Regular Replacement Cost stops at your dwelling limit — and after a big fire, when every contractor in the county is booked, costs run past that limit fast.

The price difference between these settings is usually small. The claim difference is tens of thousands. And you find out which one you bought on the worst day of your year.

Send us your declarations page or bring it by. We'll tell you which one you're on, in plain English, free.

(562) 402-1737 | 17304 Norwalk Blvd, Cerritos

08/21/2026

An ERGO NEXT survey reported by Insurance Journal in July 2026 found that 25% of surveyed small businesses carry no insurance at all, and 84% had prioritized other expenses over insurance in the prior six months.

That second number is the one I think about. It isn't a story about owners who don't care. It's a story about a month where rent, payroll, and a broken compressor all came due at once.

Here's why it matters this week: the state requires workers' comp. Your landlord requires liability. Your lender requires property. Almost nobody requires business income coverage — so almost nobody buys it. And that's the coverage that pays your bills while the doors are closed.

08/19/2026

Your home insurance might cover $300,000 of your belongings. It probably covers about $1,500 of your jewelry.

Both numbers are on the same page of your policy. Most people have only ever read the big one.

Here's how it works. Your contents coverage is usually 50-70% of what the house is insured for. But underneath that number is a list of "special limits" for certain categories — and they're small no matter how big your contents limit is. On a typical policy: jewelry around $1,500 for theft. Cash around $200. Fi****ms and silverware around $2,500 each.

For a lot of our families, this is the one that stings. The gold isn't a shopping trip. It came from Lola. It came over in a suitcase. It gets handed down at weddings and baptisms. And if a burglary takes $18,000 worth of it, a standard policy writes a check for $1,500.

The policy isn't broken. It's doing exactly what it says. That's why you have to read it.

The fix is simple and cheaper than people think — a scheduled personal property endorsement. You list the pieces, provide appraisals, and they come out from under the small limit. Bonus: scheduled jewelry is usually covered even if you just lose it, which your regular policy doesn't cover at all.

Two things this month: take photos of the jewelry and the appraisals, and look up "Special Limits of Liability" in your policy.

Want help? Bring it in and we'll go through it with you and price a schedule. Free, no obligation.

(562) 402-1737 | 17304 Norwalk Blvd, Cerritos

08/18/2026

If you drive for DoorDash, Uber, Lyft, Instacart, or Amazon Flex — read this before your next shift.

Almost every personal auto policy contains a "livery exclusion." Plain English: your coverage switches off when you're using the car to carry people or property for money. It's not a loophole an adjuster found. It's printed in the policy and it's been there for decades.

The worst window is Period 1 — app on, no request accepted yet. California's framework requires only $50k/$100k/$30k liability during that window, and it's liability only. It protects the person you hit. It does not repair your car. Meanwhile your personal policy, which would repair your car, has turned itself off.

Covered for the damage you cause. Uncovered for the damage you take. During the period you spend the most time in.

There's an endorsement that closes this, and California requires carriers to offer it. Call us and we'll check whether yours will add it: (562) 402-1737

Address

17304 Norwalk Boulevard
Cerritos, CA
90703

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 6pm
Tuesday 9am - 6pm
Wednesday 9am - 6pm
Thursday 9am - 6pm
Friday 9am - 6pm
Saturday 9am - 12pm

Telephone

+15624021737

Website

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