Florida Statute 627.0629 requires that insurance companies are required to offer Florida residents “discounts, credits, or other rate differentials…” for construction techniques that are proven to reduce wind damage caused by hurricanes and other tropical storms.
If your property was constructed prior to 2002, our licensed agents highly recommend you invest in a wind mitigation inspection to take advantage of significant discounts to your proposed premium. Anything built 2002 and newer automatically gets some portion of wind mitigation credits applied to the premium. If you have storm shutters or impact glass, it could still be worth having the inspection to get additional credits as these property-specific features are not automatically applied without an inspection.
We’ve seen significant discounts from hundreds to thousands on our client’s premiums.
A wind mitigation is an inspection conducted by a Florida-licensed professional that examines the home’s safety features, specifically concerning its ability to stand up to high winds and major storms.
Some of the features that inspectors will examine during a wind mitigation are:
- 2001 Building Code Compliance for entire building (homes built after March 2002)
- Date of roof installation and if it meets 2001 or newer building codes
- Roof covering performance & decking attachment
- Roof-to-wall strength
- Roof geometry
- Wall construction
- Secondary water resistance
- All openings such as doors & windows
The more features your property has, the higher the total discount will be for your property, but don’t be intimidated by this list! It doesn’t matter if you have one or all of the features listed to receive some portion of the wind mitigation discount. Wind mitigation discounts are applied toward the windstorm portion of your total insurance premium and depending on the location of your property, this portion can range from 15-70% of the total premium. Premium determination is very complex and continually changing so we encourage you to review your coverages with our licensed agents on an annual basis.
Wind mitigations typically cost no more than $250 and include an official report and color photos. If you would like a recommendation on a local licensed inspector, please call our office at (850) 244-2111.
If you’ve invested in a wind mitigation inspection in the last three years and would like to know your options for Florida homeowners insurance, simply submit your wind mitigation to service@harrisinsurance.com . Our agents will apply all applicable discounts and provide you with the best-possible proposal from the largest market of homeowner insurance companies in Northwest Florida.
