For our first blog, I wanted to bring information to people that will help them save money on their home insurance without removing/ reducing coverage on the policy.
If your home was built between 1980-2001 or any age home if you put a new roof on in 2010 or later, immediately complete a wind mitigation inspection. Passed by Florida’s legislature to reward homeowners who have built homes to better withstand wind, this normally $75-$100 one time inspection will put a smile on anyone’s face once they see the premium reduction to their policy.
So what does this inspection involve and will my home qualify? The wind mitigation inspection is primarily concerned with when the roof covering (shingles, tile etc) were installed (2002 and after gets a credit), roof deck attachment (how the roof’s decking was attached to the truss below, ie. nails or staples) and how the roof truss is connected to the walls of the home.
According to inspector Bill Doyle, a Florida certified building contractor, almost all home built after 1980 have clips that hold the roof to the wall. This one credit alone is worth anywhere from 20-40 percent off of the wind portion of your premium. This often equates to $150-$300 per year savings for the average home in coastal communities just for the one credit. And chances are your home was built after 1980.
If your home was built from 1994-2001 or if you have had a new roof put on after 2010, you will qualify for the roof deck discount in addition to the roof to wall connection discussed above. This is because Florida building code required 8d nails to be used starting in 1994 and for all new roofs starting in 2010 that previosly used staples. This is another 20-40 percent off the wind portion of your policy and averages between $100 -$200 off per year depending on the coverage A in your policy.
Also starting in 2010 for new roofs is something called SWR (Secondary Water Resistance.) This is a technique used to protect the interior of the building when the roof cover and under layment blow off during a storm. It can be applied to plywood roof decks and is a self-adhering polymer-modified bitumen roofing under layment (thin rubber sheets with peel and stick underside located beneath the roof covering and normal felt underlayment). This discount is not huge, but can amount to $30-$75 per year.
Roof shape is also a big determinant in the price of the discount. If you have a HIP shaped roof, one that slopes down on all sides( looks like a pyramid and cannot have more than 10 percent gable to qualify as HIP) then you have a roof that will withstand wind better that a gable shaped roof(gable roofs look like they form an inverted V when viewing from the ground).
The HIP roof discount usually does not require an inspection from a wind inspector now that Bing and other aerial mapping is available online.
If you have any questions or want to know if your home will qualify for wind mitigation discounts, please contact our office at 1-877-277-2715 and we will review your policy to make sure you are receiveing all available discounts. Scheduling a wind mitigation inspection in Florida is a smart investment that can pay for itself many times over. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Joshua Butts, Founder | Licensed 2-20 Agent
Cornerstone Insurance, Inc.
