The 2024 hurricane season was brutal for many Florida homeowners. Hindsight is 20/20, and you may be revisiting or experiencing for the first time genuine anxiety and fear about next year’s hurricane season and how your roof will fare.
If it is any consolation, every homeowners insurance company is ridden with anxiety about your roof as well. Now that the storms have come and gone and with future hurricane seasons looming in the future, both you and your insurance company might be wondering how your insurance plan should be priced.
Why Schedule a Post-Storm Season Home Inspection?
Even if your home hasn’t experienced visible damage, heavy winds and storm scenarios can weaken existing structures or damage a roof in ways you can’t see without a professional inspection. Water may also have been forced in or worked its way under the roof, the foundation, or into exterior walls, leaving no immediate signs of water leaks or damage.
These unknowns are precisely why you might suddenly see a rise in your insurance rates, especially if you have a roof with an age past the 10-year mark. You may receive your bill and be shocked to see the increase in your premium upon renewal. Insurance companies are simply running a number of scenarios and making educated assumptions about your roof. Fortunately, there’s an opportunity for you to do something about it that could potentially help with the cost of your insurance premium.
Before immediately thinking about replacing your roof for a better rate, a go-to solution is to call Super Inspection Pros and have us come out to provide you with a Wind Mitigation Report.
What Is a Wind Mitigation Report?
Wind mitigation inspections are specialized, providing you with a report on the features that protect homes from wind and storm-related water damage. In addition to providing homeowners with valuable information they can use to make their homes more wind-resistant, the report can also be sent to insurance companies to get wind mitigation points which can potentially equate to significant policy savings.
Let’s take a look at what you can expect from each.
What Does a Wind Mitigation Inspection Cover?
A wind mitigation inspection covers the strength and resilience of the:
- Roof
- Roof-to-wall connections
- Deck attachments
- Openings – windows, doors, garage doors, etc. (are they impact-graded?)
- And more
If your home has sufficient wind mitigation features in place, you can send the report directly to your homeowner’s insurance carrier. If we suggest that repairs, replacements, or other modifications should take place, and you handle those items. You can then provide your homeowner’s insurance carrier with our original report and proof that licensed contractors performed all recommended improvements.
How is This Different Than What’s Included in a Whole Home Inspection?
As you’re considering getting a wind mitigation inspection, you might be wondering: why not just get a whole home inspection to try and lower my insurance premiums? For starters, here are the differences: a whole home inspection assesses every aspect of your home from bottom to top vs. a wind mitigation just focuses on the roof and roof structure.
A normal whole home inspection includes:
- Lot grading and drainage
- The structure’s foundation
- The entire roofing system
- Attic ventilation
- Insulation
- Evidence of water damage
- Evidence of damage due to wood-destroying organisms (WDO) may reveal the need for a WDO inspection
- General notes about the properties other structures or notable features that may be relevant
However, a whole home inspection is normally not needed by homeowners insurance companies and is usually reserved for when someone is purchasing a house. And, to help avoid confusion, even though a whole home inspection includes everything in a wind mitigation inspection, each report is unique, and homeowners insurance companies only need the Wind Mitigation Report as it relates to coverage.
Why a Wind Mitigation is Worth Getting
- After completing storm damage repairs. Schedule a wind mitigation inspection if your home recently experienced storm damage and you’ve hired licensed contractors to perform repairs or replacements. Our report is just what you need to prove to the insurance company that the required repairs are complete or to fight against any assumptions they may have about your roof.
- To get the best homeowners insurance rates. A successful wind mitigation inspection report can help you earn the wind mitigation credits homeowners insurance carriers require to reduce premium rates. You can also use the report to shop around for better rates from other carriers.
Schedule the Right Inspection For Your Home With SIP
Schedule your inspection with Super Inspection Pros now that hurricane season has ended to evaluate your home’s roofing system to potentially help reduce your homeowners insurance premium. We also guarantee inspection report turnarounds in 24 hours or less.
You can always trust Inspection Pros (SIP) to ensure you’re scheduling the right type of inspection for the situation. The information provided in our detailed and accurate inspection reports and your diligence in following the recommendations will improve your home’s likelihood of weathering the next storm season – with the added benefit of increased home value.
