After years of discussion, it appears that coastal homeowners who take voluntary, proactive steps to protect their homes from wind and storm damage may see mitigation credits applied toward their homeowners insurance policies. In May, the Department of Insurance released information regarding a pending mitigation credit program which was a result of last year’s coastal homeowners insurance legislation HB 1305.

The Commissioner of Insurance is considering a schedule of mitigation credits that could apply to new, rebuilt and existing homes. For policies outside of the Beach Plan, the determination whether the credits would be available would be on a carrier-by-carrier basis, should the program be approved by the Insurance Commissioner. The proposed credits range from 5% standalone credits for window protections and hip roofs to the IBHS Fortified third party verification system for retrofits and new homes. Existing homes which are retrofit would be graded to the IBHS bronze, silver or gold standard depending on how they score on a tiered system which rates the qualifications of items such as the roof, the windows and the load path of the home. New homes built to the IBHS Fortified new standard could spend a few thousand dollars in upgrades to build a code+ home which could receive credits up to approximately $400 annually. For homes retrofit under the IBHS standards, inspections would be required. It is anticipated that should the Commissioner approve the mitigation program, a 10-month delay would occur before the credits were available. During this time, the training of inspectors and builders could occur.

For more information on these programs, contact BASE.

Information on new homes built to the IBHS Fortified standard can be found here (http://www.disastersafety.org/text.asp?id=fortified_living) or existing homes retrofit to the IBHS standard (http://www.disastersafety.org/resource/resmgr/pdfs/feh_hurr_designations.pdf).