How To Unlock Premium Discounts For Hurricane Loss Mitigation

For Floridians, the threat of hurricanes is always looming. Unfortunately, since tropical storms can’t be avoided or prevented, we can only do our best to protect our properties from destruction.

However, many homeowners are not aware of the fact that some construction features significantly strengthen their home’s resilience to storms and other Florida-specific perils. 

The best thing is, some of those features and construction techniques qualify you for a hurricane loss mitigation program that can provide you with a sizable discount on your insurance premiums.

What Is Hurricane Mitigation Loss Program Florida?

Many counties have at least some form of a hurricane mitigation loss program Florida. These grants are aimed at providing retrofit measures to older buildings (usually built before 2002) rather than offering rehabilitative work. 

The hurricane mitigation loss program Florida helps low to moderate-income families or those with seniors and children upgrade their homes with hurricane mitigation features that offer more protection against strong winds. For instance, this may include load path reinforcement, opening protection, and if needed, complete re-roofing.

Make sure to check the availability and requirements of the hurricane mitigation loss program Florida in your county.

How Are Insurance Premiums Calculated?

Before going over structural features that make you eligible for premium discounts for hurricane loss mitigation, it’s important to go over the basics first.

A large chunk of your overall insurance premium is calculated based on potential losses. To help insurance companies evaluate future hurricane-related damage, the Florida public hurricane loss model was developed.

This is a prediction model which includes both pre-hurricane and post-hurricane projections. The former is used during insurer rate filings to determine premiums and predict potential hurricane losses, while the latter estimates actual damage after the hurricane. 

A major part of the Florida public hurricane loss model is the prescribed mitigation measures that were heavily investigated and proven to minimize structural damage to homes in case of high winds. As such, these hurricane mitigation features are rewarded with significant premium discounts.

Construction Features That Qualify You For Premium Discounts

To leverage premium discounts for hurricane loss mitigation, you need to have the following features:

1. Proof of FBC compliance   

Due to the effectiveness of their hurricane mitigation features, homes that are compliant with the 2001 Florida Building Code (FBC) will be eligible for discounts of up to 45%. You will be able to apply this discount if your home was built after January 1, 2022. Naturally, you need to be able to show documentation that confirms the year of the structure and substantiates different roof construction features. 

To do so, you must provide the following affidavits:

• FBC Roofing Mitigation Verification Affidavit
• FBC Shutter Mitigation Verification Affidavit 
• FBC Commercial Mitigation Verification Affidavit 
• FBC Wall and Roofing Mitigation Verification Affidavit
  
  

2. Roof shape

Since the shape determines how resistant a roof is against storms, certain shapes will make you eligible for a discount. Since hip roofs (shaped like a pyramid) are more wind resistant than gable end roofs (shaped like a triangle), you can receive a discount of up to 23% if you have the former.

The above discount can increase if you have additional hurricane mitigation features installed (you’ll need to submit a photo of your hip roof).

3. Opening protection

Opening protection features such as specialized hurricane shutters will come with a premium discount of up to 45%. This is available for citizens of Broward and Dade counties in case their home was built in 96’ or later.

To get this discount, you’ll have to submit the FBC Shutter Mitigation Verification Affidavit to your insurer.

4. Roof covering

Certain types of roof covering such as asphalt or wooden shingles, metal panels, and concrete tiles will make your home eligible for up to a 5% discount on your premiums. 

To receive this discount, you must submit the following affidavits:

• FBC Roofing Mitigation Verification 
• FBC Commercial Mitigation Verification or the FBC Wall and Roofing Verification
  
  

5. Roof-to-wall connections

Specific roof-to-wall connectors will make you eligible for a premium discount of up to 18%, such as:

• Single or double wraps
• Toe nails
• Clips
• Structurally connected connections

To get this discount, you’ll need either the FBC Wall and Roofing Mitigation Verification Affidavit or the FBC Commercial Verification Affidavit.

6. Roof deck attachment

If your roof has 6d or 8d nails or uses dimensional lumber, you may receive a discount of up to 5% by submitting the FBC Roofing Mitigation Verification and the FBC Wall and Roofing Mitigation Verification Affidavits.

How To Calculate Your Discount

Now that we went over the hurricane loss mitigation program Florida and the premium discounts for hurricane loss mitigation, you should learn how to calculate the discounts you can obtain. 

The hard part here is the fact that all the percentages we discussed above can’t be simply added up as they’re not cumulative. Rather, your discount will be the function of all the property’s features.

While this sounds convoluted, you’ll figure it out after looking at a few examples. 

Keep in mind that premiums are separated into wind and non-wind portions, so you’ll only get a discount for the wind portion of the premium. 

Let’s say that the premium is set at $1k with the wind portion being $600. The home was built in 2003 and is located within 1,500 feet of the coast. It complies with the 2001 Florida Building Code but has a gable end roof and no shutters.

In this case, the new premium will be around $772 as the homeowner is eligible only for a 38% discount due to FBC compliance.

If the same home has shutters and a hip roof, the discount will be 43% after all the features are added up and the new policy premium will be $742.

Schedule An Inspection Now

As you can see, you can save a significant amount of money per year on your premiums if you qualify for these discounts. Still, there’s a caveat - without the results of a hurricane mitigation inspection, your insurance company will assume you have none of these features.

Additionally, for most of the features we listed, you’ll require independent certification from an independent inspector.

To receive an affordable, yet top-notch service, Certified Inspectors is the best choice. We are qualified and licensed to perform all inspections required for insurance, and we’ve been doing this for decades.

Schedule an inspection with a ​Certified Master Inspector® and let us take care of business while you receive lower premiums.