New money, discounts available for home hardening
A new survey shows that one in four Floridians will ignore hurricane evacuation warnings this summer, expanded incentives take effect to help Florida homeowners harden their homes against hurricanes, and an expanded mitigation discount on homeowners policies takes effect on July 1. It’s all in this week’s Disaster Management Digest.
Hurricane Survey: AAA has released findings from its latest Auto Club Annual Hurricane Survey. It shows that nearly 20% of Florida residents don’t make advanced preparations for the hurricane season or severe weather and that nearly a quarter of Floridians surveyed said they would ignore warnings to evacuate. Worse, more than half of those surveyed said they would leave their homes only if a Category 3 or higher storm was approaching. The reasons given:
- Want to stay in case there’s home or property damage that they can fix – 40%.
- Can’t bring their pets or don’t have a safe option for them – 30%
- Believe the storm will turn away from their direction – 22%
- Don’t know where to go – 18%
- Fear of looting after the storm – 17%
- Financial reasons – 15%
More Home-Hardening Funds Available: Beginning July 1, more Floridians will be able to take advantage of the state’s My Safe Florida Home program. HB 881 expands the program, which offers grants of up to $10,000 on a $2 to $1 match to incentivize homeowners to harden their homes from future hurricanes and reduce their insurance premiums as a result. The program has been on the books since 2005 and was revitalized in 2022 with $150 million in grants. This spring the legislature added another $100 million and expanded eligibility beyond the declared wind-debris zones to any home in the state with an insured value of $700,000 or less.
Courtesy, Institute for Business & Home Safety
Expanded Mitigation Discounts: The Governor recently signed into law HB 799, which expands mitigation discount programs for policyholders by:
- Requiring a property insurance company’s residential rate filing to allow for mitigation discounts which reduce the potential for windstorm losses; and
- Requiring residential property insurance carriers to provide reasonable discount, credit, or appropriate reduction in deductibles for wind uplift prevention measures as a part of their rate filings.
Many insurance companies had already provided credits for hurricane-hardening efforts, but the law now mandates some discounts. It, too, takes effect July 1. Our political intel says that the Huntsman Corporation out of The Woodlands, Texas was a backer of this measure. Their product, called THERMO-SIL SF is a silicone sealant that is sprayed in the attic and claims to help keep the roof attached to the house during high winds by protecting seams, penetrations and fasteners on various roofing substrates to form a weatherproof barrier. As insurance interests know, if you can keep the roof on the house and the garage intact during storms, you’ve eliminated the chief causes of hurricane damage.
LMA Newsletter of 6-26-23
