Why do Home owners insurance companies offer wind mitigation discounts?

The state legislation adopted provisions for a new statewide building code (the 2001 Florida Building Code), which became effective on March 1, 2002. The same legislation included a requirement for insurance companies to provide property insurance discounts for homes that have wind mitigation construction features that reduce the losses in windstorms. Each insurance company was required to submit new rates by February 28, 2003 and include discounts for wind damage reduction (mitigation) construction features.

The discounts are justified because stronger, more wind-resistive houses have lower windstorm losses, and lower windstorm losses mean reduced costs to insurance companies. The insurance discounts provide some financial incentives for homeowners to strengthen their existing homes and for new construction to be built to the strongest options in the Florida Building Code.

These new insurance rate discounts in Florida began to take place in 2003. They apply to both existing construction (houses built prior to 2002) and new construction built to the new statewide Florida Building Code (FBC).

To qualify for these discounts, a wind mitigation inspection is required and must be completed by a certified inspector.