A lot of people hear the question, “would you like to add a wind mitigation inspection to your Tallahassee home inspection report?,” and just assume that it probably won’t help them or won’t apply to them, and will only cost them money, so they decline the offer. Most don’t realize that every homeowner’s insurance policy in the state of Florida is required to disclose in the policy description, which wind mitigation credits that customer is receiving, and what dollar amounts they could save if they document that their home has those features in place. This is not an, ‘all or nothing’ deal and even if you have every possible form of wind mitigation features accounted for, your discount will be capped at a maximum (ex: 84% for our personal policy). But having a couple common wind mitigation features can still represent a 10-80% discount from your hurricane/wind premium. The huge spread of this range is tied to what components are present. One of the most ‘critical’ components is the roof-to-wall connection. In this area, it’s commonly hurricane clips on older homes. Having hurricane clips is typically a 35-60% discount off premium, depending on what other components are present. This is why having hurricane clips installed by a licensed contractor, if you don’t already have them, is a great idea, making your house safer AND cheaper to insure.
The only way the insurance company will credit you these discounts, is if a qualified inspector using a wind mitigation inspection report form with supporting photographs, documents them. If you’ve replaced your roof from late 2007 on, you should have a new wind mitigation report done, as you’ll get further discounts. All too often people assume they’re getting credit just because they put a new roof on, but they aren’t taking advantage of the full discounts they could be. Pull out your insurance policy’s declaration page, and take a look. Even if you just renewed your policy and paid through the year, by submitting one, you will receive a refund check in the mail. If you’d like to see an example of a blank wind mitigation inspection form, click HERE.
Below are a couple examples of pictures you’ll see in the wind mitigation inspection: