How Hiring A Certified Wind Mitigation Inspector Can Benefit You

Florida insurance companies are very cautious about issuing policies for older homes. This is understandable because the hurricane season in the Sunshine State poses an incredible amount of risk. As a result, homeowners’ insurance policy premiums often reach astronomic prices.

Fortunately, you can minimize this burden by hiring a wind mitigation inspector.

Wind mitigation inspection is a comprehensive evaluation of a home’s wind-resistant features performed by a certified professional. As opposed to a four-point inspection often required for “higher risk” homes, a wind mitigation inspection is voluntary. 

Since it can lead to substantial savings on your premiums, a wind mitigation inspection is just as important as other inspections, if not more. 

How a wind mitigation inspection works

When a wind mitigation inspector examines your property, they determine the existence of wind-resistant features that can help the home withstand fast Floridian winds. Naturally, insurers want to minimize their risk, so they’ll decrease the premiums for homeowners who can prove their homes are well-equipped to sidestep the property loss from extreme weather conditions. 

While wind-resistant construction features seem minor at best, they can help save your home if a hurricane hits your neighborhood. In other words, even the seemingly inconsequential details can make a difference between a total rebuild and a home still standing after a storm (as Elton John would say). 

Ultimately, an inspection benefits both you and the insurance company, so it would do you well to contact an experienced wind mitigation inspector first before applying for a quote on a new policy.

How much money can you save on your premiums?

It’s impossible to answer this question precisely as it all depends on your specific circumstances, such as the number of hurricane-resistant features you have. Plus, all insurers value these features differently. 

However, we can ballpark it to give you a rough idea.

Premium savings can range from $100 to over $1k, meaning even the lowest discount will offset the price of the inspection. 

If you’re afraid of wasting money, don’t fret it. Most homes have some storm-resistant features. Yet, if you don’t provide a report to your insurer, they’ll assume you have zero. So even if your discounts are minimal, you’ll still save money over the year. 

What does a wind mitigation inspection include?

So, what will the wind mitigation inspector check in your home?

Here are the seven main points on the wind mitigation inspection checklist:

1. Building code

The wind mitigation inspector must check if your home was built according to code. Depending on the area, your home either adheres to the Florida Building Code 2001 (or later) or Building Code 94 (in South Florida).

If the home doesn’t meet these requirements, it will likely reflect negatively on your premiums. 

2. Roof covering

Wind mitigation inspection also confirms the type of roof coverings like fiberglass or asphalt shingles, concrete, tile, and other. These types have varying degrees of resistance against the elements and will directly influence your premiums. 

The wind mitigation inspector will also ascertain if the roof coverings were up to code when they were installed. 

3. Roof deck attachment

Next up, the inspector will check the method of securing the roof deck to the truss or the rafter and determine the strength of the connection. This includes checking the length of the nails that connect the sheathing to trusses/rafters. The closer these nails are together and the longer they are, the better the wind-resistance grade will be. 

4. Roof-to-wall attachment

The quality of your roof-to-wall attachment is a huge indicator of how well the roof attaches to your home’s walls. Different connections are available, the most common being clips, double wraps, anchor bolts, and toenails. The strongest attachments are double wraps, while toenails are the weakest and will usually negatively affect insurance premium discounts.

5. Roof geometry

The shape of the roof affects the home’s resistance to strong Florida winds. There are three available roof shapes:

• Gable
• Flat
• Hip

Hip roofs are four-sided and sloped down on all sides, which provides them with higher resistance against hurricane storms. As such, they ensure higher discounts.

6. Secondary water resistance

A secondary water resistance is an additional protective layer underneath the primary roof layer. Homes with this feature are more resistant to water penetration, known for occurring during Florida storms and heavy rainfall. 

7. Opening protection

Lastly, the wind mitigation inspector will check openings such as doors and windows and evaluate their impact resistance. This may include checking if the windows are shatterproof and noting the number of storm shutters and hurricane-resistant doors.

How to maximize your premium discounts 

While you may not be able to affect your roof’s shape, you can easily add other improvements. The following components are considered the safest by most insurers and installing them will result in substantial discounts:

• Roofing materials that meet state building codes
• Roof deck attachment made of OSB sheathing attached to the truss with multiple 8D nails (the nails should be 6 inches apart)
• Rroof-to-wall attachment with double wraps (steel connectors attached to the wall frame that wrap around the top portion of the truss)
• Secondary water resistance
• Hurricane-rated coverings that can withstand 9 pounds of cyclic pressure and are installed over all openings

The inspector will include these recommendations in the inspection report, which you can then forward to your insurance company to unlock the discounts. 

Our advice? Schedule an inspection, make the suggested improvements, then schedule another inspection to save even more cash on your homeowner’s insurance.

Take action to protect your home 

For many, the primary goal when contacting a wind mitigation inspector is to decrease premiums but it’s also about protecting the family’s safety. We’ve seen roofs without any wind-resistant features come clean off in a storm, so you don’t want that happening to you in the middle of nasty weather. 

Take action now. Certified professionals at Guardian Angel Inspections are the most qualified inspectors in the Palm Beach area. Over the years, we helped many realtors and homeowners make the best real estate decisions possible and more importantly, helped them achieve incredible insurance savings.

Schedule a wind mitigation inspection - call 561-512-7854 or fill out our contact form. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!