Novato

About Novato

Insurance in Novato, CA

Inszone is an independent agency writing insurance in Novato, CA from 205 San Marin Drive, on the corner of San Andreas Drive in the San Marin neighborhood. The office spent decades here as Anixter & Oser, Inc. before joining Inszone, and the same team still answers the phone.

Marin is not an average California insurance market, and pretending otherwise is how people end up underinsured. Replacement cost on a Novato home rarely resembles its purchase price. The hills west and north of town sit in the wildland-urban interface, which is why the admitted market has been retreating from this county rather than competing for it. A captive agent with one carrier’s appetite has nowhere to go when that appetite changes.

Wildfire drives everything here. Carriers pause new business, non-renew whole ZIP codes, and reprice on brush clearance and roof class. Working with an independent Novato insurance agency means that when one carrier exits, we move the account rather than watch it lapse.

We read your current declarations page before quoting, so the comparison is real rather than cosmetic.

Buy your insurance in Novato, CA!

Personal Insurance in Novato, CA

This office specializes in high-value home insurance, and in Marin that is the ordinary case rather than the exception. Guaranteed or extended replacement cost, scheduled personal property for jewelry, art and wine, and cash-settlement terms you can actually live with all matter more here than the headline premium.

High net worth insurance is a different product line, not a bigger version of the same one — excess liability layered over multiple homes, vehicles, watercraft and board seats, written by carriers who underwrite the whole picture at once. When the admitted market declines a property, the fallback runs in order. We re-shop admitted carriers first, then surplus lines.

Earthquake insurance is written separately from your homeowners policy and is usually available through a carrier participating in the California Earthquake Authority. Marin sits close enough to the San Andreas and Rodgers Creek faults that the percentage deductible deserves a real conversation rather than a shrug.

Not every Marin property is a high-value risk, and we write standard home insurance in Novato, CA on the same terms — the difference is which carriers we approach, not how carefully we read the form.

Auto insurance in Novato rounds out the personal side, together with renters and condo policies, landlord coverage for investment property, personal umbrella liability, and specialty lines including boats, classic cars and motorcycles. Flood is excluded from every homeowners policy and is placed separately.

Business Insurance in Novato, CA

We place business insurance in Novato, CA across general liability, commercial property, business owner’s and commercial package policies, commercial auto and fleet, cyber and professional liability, and surety bonds.

Novato’s employer base is unusual for a city this size. Life science insurance is a real line here — the Buck Institute and the biotech cluster that grew up around it need clinical trial liability, product liability, property coverage for cold storage and lab equipment, and D&O that contemplates a funding round.

Winery insurance is the other local specialism, covering tasting rooms, production, spoilage, stock throughput and liquor liability for the boutique producers spread across northern Marin and the Sonoma line.

California employers carry one of the strictest workers’ compensation mandates in the country — there is no small-employer exemption, and five contractor classifications must carry it with no employees at all. We handle class codes, payroll audits and experience modification review rather than just issuing the policy.

For contractors and trades working across Marin, certificates of insurance and additional-insured endorsements are usually what hold up the job. Our insurance agents in Novato turn those around the same day.

Inszone Insurance agency near me

If you are looking for Anixter & Oser, this is the same office — 205 San Marin Drive, open Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM.

We serve all of Marin County from here, including insurance in San Rafael, Mill Valley, Corte Madera, Larkspur, San Anselmo, Fairfax, Tiburon and Sausalito, plus Petaluma and the southern Sonoma communities just up the 101.

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FAQs

My home insurance wasn’t renewed. What are my options?

More than you’d think, and they run in order. First we re-shop the admitted market, which has improved — six of California’s top ten home insurers have committed to growing here. If admitted carriers decline, we go to surplus lines. Call as soon as the notice arrives; options narrow near the lapse date.

What is a difference in conditions policy, and do I need one?

A DIC policy sits alongside a California FAIR Plan policy and fills the gaps the FAIR Plan leaves open. The FAIR Plan is essentially fire-only: it does not cover water damage, theft, personal liability, or loss of use in the way a standard homeowners policy does. A DIC wrap restores those coverages from a separate carrier. If you are on the FAIR Plan without a DIC, you are far less covered than most people assume — and yes, you almost certainly need one.

What are the minimum auto insurance requirements in California?

California requires liability limits of at least $30,000 per person, $60,000 per accident, and $15,000 for property damage. Those limits took effect January 1, 2025 — the first increase since 1967 — and they rise again to $50,000 / $100,000 / $25,000 on January 1, 2035. The minimum keeps you legal, but anything above your limit comes out of your own assets, which is why we usually price higher limits alongside it.

Does my Novato business need workers’ compensation insurance?

Yes. Under California Labor Code section 3700, every employer with one or more employees must carry workers’ compensation — there is no small-employer exemption. Five contractor classifications must carry it even with no employees at all: C-8 Concrete, C-20 Warm-Air Heating/HVAC, C-22 Asbestos Abatement, C-39 Roofing, and C-61/D-49 Tree Service. Every other licensee can still file a no-employee exemption until January 1, 2028.

How do I get a quote from your Novato insurance office?

Call 415-898-1600, use the quote form on this page, or stop by 205 San Marin Drive. Have your current declarations page ready if you can, and for commercial coverage your revenue, payroll by class and recent loss runs. For a high-value home, bring the most recent appraisal or replacement-cost estimate if you have one. If a carrier has sent you a non-renewal notice, call sooner rather than later — options narrow as the lapse date gets closer.