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Data updated October 22, 2026

Data updated October 22, 2026

Hurricane wind mitigation in Florida: inspections and premium discounts

Updated October 22, 2026

Florida law requires residential property insurers to include discounts, credits or deductible reductions for construction features that reduce windstorm losses (Fla. Stat. 627.0629). The features are documented on the state's Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form, OIR-B1-1802, signed by a qualified inspector and valid for up to five years.

Florida insurers must reward wind-resistant construction. Under Fla. Stat. 627.0629, a residential property insurance rate filing “must include actuarially reasonable discounts, credits, or other rate differentials, or appropriate reductions in deductibles” for properties with features shown to reduce windstorm losses. A homeowner proves the features with a wind mitigation inspection on the state form, OIR-B1-1802, and gives the completed form to the insurer.

What the law requires insurers to discount

Section 627.0629(1) lists the features that discounts must cover. The list includes, but is not limited to, construction that improves:

  • wind uplift prevention;
  • roof strength;
  • roof covering performance;
  • roof-to-wall strength;
  • wall-to-floor-to-foundation strength;
  • opening protection;
  • window, door and skylight strength.

Credits for features that meet the minimum requirements of the Florida Building Code must also be in the filing. The Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) sets the discounts that reflect the full actuarial value of these features. It must re-evaluate them by January 1, 2025 and every five years after that. Since October 1, 2023, each insurer has had to describe its hurricane mitigation discounts on its website, reachable from the home page or the main page for property policyholders. Premium notices must also show the hurricane premium separately from the premium for all other coverages (627.0629(4)).

The statute does not set discount amounts. They vary by insurer and filing, so the figure for a given home comes from its insurer’s notice of premium discounts (form OIR-B1-1655), which must be provided at issuance and each renewal.

The OIR-B1-1802 inspection form

OIR’s wind mitigation resources page says the Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form was updated effective April 1, 2026. The update followed a June 2024 residential wind-loss mitigation study by Applied Research Associates. The forms showing discount ranges (OIR-B1-1699 and OIR-B1-1700) and the notice of premium discounts (OIR-B1-1655) are still marked “updates pending”. According to OIR, the form “is valid for up to five (5) years provided no material changes are made to the structure or inaccuracies are found on the form.”

The revised form (Rev. 04/26) has nine questions:

# Item What the inspector records
1 Building code Code in force at the original permit application: FBC 2001/2004, FBC 2007 or later, or SFBC-94 in the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone
2 Region HVHZ or one of three design wind speed regions (ASCE 7-22)
3 Roof slope 6:12 or steeper, or flatter
4 Roof covering Type, permit date or product approval, year installed
5 Roof deck attachment The weakest form of attachment
6 Roof-to-wall attachment The weakest connection (toenails, clips, single wraps, double wraps or structural)
7 Roof geometry Hip, flat or other
8 Secondary water resistance Sealed roof deck or not
9 Opening protection The weakest wind-borne debris protection on the openings

At least one photo or document must back each feature marked in questions 2 through 9. A FORTIFIED Home Roof, Silver or Gold certificate can stand in for some items. The form notes that “some items listed may not qualify for a discount.”

Who may sign the form

Fla. Stat. 627.711(2)(a), whose list is reproduced on the form, says an insurer must accept a form signed by:

  1. a home inspector licensed under s. 468.8314 who has completed at least 3 hours of hurricane mitigation training approved by the Construction Industry Licensing Board and a proficiency exam;
  2. a building code inspector certified under s. 468.607;
  3. a general, building or residential contractor licensed under s. 489.111;
  4. a professional engineer licensed under s. 471.015;
  5. a professional architect licensed under s. 481.213;
  6. any other person or entity the insurer recognizes as qualified.

The signer must inspect the structure personally. The exception is licensed contractors and engineers, who may send a direct employee and are liable for that employee’s work. The homeowner also signs to confirm that the named inspector, or the inspector’s employee, did the inspection and showed identification. A false or fraudulent form can lead to an insurance fraud investigation, licensing action or criminal prosecution.

My Safe Florida Home

The My Safe Florida Home program, run by the Department of Financial Services, offers free wind mitigation inspections and matching grants for upgrades. As of October 22, 2026, its site advertises free inspections and grants of up to $10,000. Applicants create an account, complete a prioritization questionnaire and are placed in inspection groups. Under Fla. Stat. 215.5586, the program depends on annual appropriations and creates no entitlement. The current text, which includes 2026 amendments set to expire July 1, 2027, sets these rules:

  • Inspections: a site-built, owner-occupied, homesteaded single-family home, either detached or attached and no more than three stories.
  • Grants: insured value of $700,000 or less, built before January 1, 2008, program inspection within the previous 24 months, and the applicant must be a low-income or moderate-income person under s. 420.0004.
  • Funding: the state pays $2 for every $1 from the homeowner, up to $10,000. Low-income applicants can receive up to $10,000 without a match.
  • Eligible work: opening protection (exterior doors, garage doors, windows, skylights), roof-to-wall connections, roof-deck attachment, and installing secondary water resistance while replacing the roof covering.

Hurricane deductibles in Florida

Fla. Stat. 627.701 governs hurricane deductibles on personal residential policies:

  • Before issuing a policy, the insurer must offer hurricane deductibles of $500, 2%, 5% and 10% of the dwelling limits (unless a percentage works out to less than $500), and must give notice of these options at each renewal.
  • Exceptions: with dwelling limits of $250,000 or more, the $500 option need not be offered. From $1 million to under $3 million, a 3% option may replace the 2% option. At $3 million or more, the 2% option need not be offered.
  • For a home valued under $500,000, a hurricane deductible above 10% requires a handwritten, signed statement from every named insured. If the home is mortgaged, the lender must approve it in writing.
  • The hurricane deductible applies once per calendar year to all hurricane losses under policies from the same insurer or insurer group, not once per storm.
  • The declarations page must show the deductible as a dollar amount.
  • When mitigation features are in place, the insurer must let the policyholder choose a reduced hurricane deductible instead of the premium discount (627.701(9)).

Miami-Dade: the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone

The Florida Building Code’s High-Velocity Hurricane Zone (HVHZ) covers Miami-Dade and Broward counties, as the OIR-B1-1802 form states. For HVHZ homes, the form accepts the South Florida Building Code (SFBC-94) as the code in force for permits filed after September 1, 1994. For roof coverings, the form accepts either a Florida Building Code or a Miami-Dade product approval number.

Hurricane wind is a large part of modelled losses in the county. In FEMA’s National Risk Index (v1.20), as summarized on our Miami-Dade County report, hurricane accounts for about $81 of the roughly $165 in expected annual building losses per $100,000 of building value, close to half. It is the largest modelled hazard in 51 of our 78 Miami-Dade ZIP reports. Some examples:

These shares come from FEMA’s modelled expected annual loss, allocated to ZIP areas as described in our methodology. They describe the ZIP area as a whole, not any single building. Wind mitigation features change what an individual home is likely to lose, and the inspection form is how an insurer learns about them.

Questions

Who can sign a Florida wind mitigation form?

A home inspector licensed under s. 468.8314 with the required hurricane mitigation training and proficiency exam, a certified building code inspector, a licensed general, building or residential contractor, a licensed professional engineer, a licensed architect, or another person the insurer recognizes as qualified.

How long is a wind mitigation inspection valid in Florida?

OIR says the OIR-B1-1802 form is valid for up to five years, provided no material changes are made to the structure and no inaccuracies are found on the form.

What hurricane deductibles must Florida insurers offer?

Before issuing a personal lines residential policy, the insurer must offer hurricane deductibles of $500, 2%, 5% and 10% of the dwelling limits, with exceptions for higher-value homes, under Fla. Stat. 627.701(3).

How much will a wind mitigation inspection save me?

The statute requires actuarially reasonable discounts but does not fix an amount. Each insurer files its own discounts with OIR and must describe them on its website and in a notice at issuance and renewal.

Sources

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