Florida home insurance discounts
with wind mitigation inspections.

Blue Sky Insurance® provides tips and advice for obtaining
discounts for your home insurance.

Anyone who owns a home and has home insurance or is ready to purchase a new homeowners insurance policy should always consider getting a wind mitigation inspection on their dwelling. Windstorm mitigation features offer more protection against hurricane force winds.

Often homeowners think of only the windows and doors when it comes to protecting their homes but there is a whole lot more that you need to worry about when it comes to reinforcing your home. It’s the features inside your structure that also give your house the stability it needs during a hurricane.

Hurricane season begins on June 1st and ends on November 30th and sometimes extends longer than those time periods. Which means that your home is at a much higher risk for structural damage for over 5 months of the year.

The first step is hiring a wind mitigation inspector which will cost about $100 to $200 for the professional assessment. A general, building or residential contractor licensed under Section 489.111, Florida Statutes or an engineer licensed under Section 471.015, Florida Statutes or a building code inspector licensed under Section 468.607 can inspect your home and produce the required documents for you to present to your insurance company.

If you meet all of the required wind mitigation check points you can save up to 13% off your home owners insurance. To find out what you save, use our online insurance calculator for Florida homes and get an online rate so you can price out your costs for coverage.

The following types of mitigation are required to receive the maximum discount from your insurance company.

• Water Barriers - This is the underlying sealing on your roof before the roof tiles or shingles are nailed or glued down. Today contractors use a foam glue to secure your roof tiles vs. using nails which used to be the standard application. Glue is much better as there are no holes penetrating through the roof boards and seals.

• Anchors from Roof to Walls and Floor to Floor (Roof Tie Downs) - These are connections and reinforcements used in one to multi story homes that establish a continuous load path which allows your dwelling to resist hurricane force winds as one unit. Connectors must be double wrap connectors for both sides of the stud where the rafters meet the wall frame. Or they may be bolted to both sides. Your inspector will check to make sure each connection is secure.

• Gable Roof Ends - This is the roof walls between the top roof pitch. Gable ends higher than 4 feet are sufficient to pass a wind mitigation inspection. Most home built after Hurricane Andrew have these type s of ends.

• Soffets and Vents - These need to be inspected for leaks, and deteriorated materials to prevent water damage.

• Wall to Foundation connectors - CBS construction (Cement Block) requires a steel rod that is embedded into the foundation and runs up through the cement blocks and connect to the roof.

• Glazed openings - These are openings such as windows, doors and any opening that is not part of the original structure. These need to be secure with approved hurricane shutters or impact resistant glass. Do not forget to secure your garage door. If you have hurricane shutters but do not secure your garage opening you will not get the full discount you want.

For a complete guide on wind mitigation visit FloridaDisaster.org.

Contact Blue Sky Insurance for a list of wind mitigation inspectors so you can get the discounts you are entitled to and save hundreds of dollars on your Boca Raton home insurance policy.

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