Miami Roofing

We all know that home owner’s insurance premiums are exceedingly high in Florida, especially if you live near the water. What many Floridians do not know is that one little piece of paper can save you hundreds, even thousands of dollars off of your home owners policy. Florida law requires that all statewide insurance companies provide discounts for various building upgrades and conditions in a home. To qualify for these savings all you need to do is have a qualified inspector conduct a wind mitigation inspection of your home.

What the Inspection Looks For

You may be thinking that this sounds great, but you never installed hurricane clips or functioning shutters. Well, that is ok – you don’t have to. A wind mitigation inspection looks at a number of features on your home, many that your builder may have done without you ever knowing. For example, if your builder used a certain quality of nail, called a six-penny nail, which is common to roof construction, then you have a discount. Certain roof designs provide a discount. Many other features that your home very well may have can provide the same savings. The inspection looks at many areas of the building construction, water proofing, Miami roofing and windows.

This can impact any property owner and homes of any age. Newer homes built after 2002 probably have most of the features that are required, yet likely are being charged higher rates without having this inspection report on file. Older homes often have even better opportunities to take advantage of this. Often, home insurance companies look at the year that a home was built and then assume that every structure in the home (including the roof and windows) has never been updated since building. The wind mitigation analysis tells the insurer of any changes that have been made, and forces them to offer rate cuts based on those updates.

Getting the Inspection

Any licensed builder can sign for this inspection. Most often people and companies who perform traditional home inspections also perform wind mitigation services. Prices for this can range from $100 to $400, so shop around. Many company’s will offer a guarantee that they will save you on insurance premiums in one year at least double what you pay them for the report- you can’t go wrong!

Making It Count

Once you have your completed report, you simply take it over to your home owner’s insurance agent. They will then file it, and within a couple of weeks you will receive a new policy with your lower premium and refund check. Smaller inland houses usually save $600 or more per year; waterfront and hurricane zone homes can save thousands per year. So take a few moments now, and see about getting a wind mitigation inspection on your home today.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 18th, 2010 at 1:31 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.