Clients and friends of Pontell Insurance,

Today, many of us heard Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings issue a shelter in place mandate for Orange County, FL.  

Based on these recommendations, all Pontell Insurance team members will work from home as coronavirus continues to impact Florida. Nothing is more important than the health and safety of our team, their families, and the clients and community who support our agency.

We are also canceling all work travel to insurance industry conferences and events for the foreseeable future.

Although our physical office may be closed, our team is committed to serving the clients and community members who count on us with the same level of care you’ve come to expect.

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to put our phone number in your cell phone contacts: (407) 696-1333. Please call or text us anytime you have a question about your insurance protection, need assistance with a policy change, or experience a claim. We are here to help.

Our entire team is monitoring phone calls, text messages, and emails during our normal business hours of Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. It is our expectation that when a client calls they will speak with a live person on our team, text messages are responded to within five minutes, and emails are responded to within two hours.

How to Contact Us 

Here is a full list of the ways you can communicate with our team during the coronavirus pandemic:

• Call our office phone number at (407) 696-1333
• Text our office phone number at (407) 789-3273
• Email an agent directly, or email our team at service [at] pontellinsurance [dot] com
• Schedule a phone appointment on our calendars via our online scheduling tool
• Send a secure message through our website

Please be aware we are temporarily stopping all scheduled in-person and walk-in appointments.

Thank you for your understanding and flexibility during this unprecedented time. We appreciate your support of our local, independent business!

Our Emergency Response Plan

Thankfully, Pontell Insurance has a comprehensive and constantly-evolving emergency response plan. As professional insurance agents and advocates, we have an obligation to be there for our clients when they need us most. We take this responsibility very seriously.

We first tested our emergency response plan during multiple hurricane events of the past few years, unprecedented storms seasons have prepared our office to be mobile and ready to help in the most difficult of circumstances.

Living in a state constantly under threat of natural disasters, we are continually evaluating our disaster plan. To make it easier for agents to work remotely, we invested in a VoIP phone system that uses the internet, rather than a regular landline or mobile network, to make phone calls. This technology allows our team to answer calls to our office anywhere in the world, providing the same experience to our clients no matter where our team members are located.

In addition, we assembled a portable technology emergency kit for each team member to keep at home. If a disaster strikes outside business hours, this will allow every team member to efficiently service our clients from home or wherever they may evacuate to.

After adding these enhancements, we also practiced our plan by allowing team members to work remotely as they would in an emergency situation. Not only did these trial runs help us further refine our emergency response plans, but it ensured every team member was comfortable using our remote technologies.

What You Can Expect From Us

Currently, all Pontell Insurance team members are telecommuting to ensure the safety of themselves, their families, and our community. The COVID-19 crisis is rapidly evolving, and we will continue to monitor our response in the days and weeks ahead.

Although our physical office may be closed, our team is committed to serving the clients and community members who count on us.

We plan to keep our normal business hours of Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Should You Experience a Claim

If you experience a claim during the global coronavirus pandemic, we are here to help.

Our team will do our best to advise you on next steps, and we will connect you to the proper claims department so your family can be taken care of promptly.

What You Can Do to Prepare

Our goal is to help keep our team, clients, and community healthy and ensure we’re doing as much as possible to manage and minimize the spread of COVID-19. We hope you and your family stay well throughout this crisis.

We understand and share the fear many of you face. It’s difficult to cope with the uncertainty of school closures, changes in work situations, and social distancing.

Disasters like coronavirus don’t plan ahead, but you can. We’re using this emergency as a reminder to evaluate our family’s disaster preparedness plans and emergency kits.

Every family should have a thought-out emergency plan that takes into account all types of disasters, including situations like the current coronavirus pandemic. This weekend, we encourage you to spend an hour with your family evaluating and updating your emergency plan.

If you don’t have a disaster preparedness plan, now is the time to make one.

Next, work on building your home emergency kit. Your home emergency kit should take into account all the essentials – food, water, shelter, warmth, and safety – you need to shelter in place during and after a disaster.

Most state Emergency Management Divisions recommend stocking enough resources to survive on your own for two weeks. Be sure to take into account the special needs of your household, including children and pets.

For more and help building your own emergency preparedness plan please visit https://apps.floridadisaster.o...