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Fla. boosts insurance discounts for storm safety

Many Florida homeowners will get larger property insurance discounts – about double what they now receive – for improvements aimed at avoiding hurricane damage under a rule approved by Gov. Jeb Bush and the Cabinet.

Currently, state insurance regulators have a list of “suggested” discounts for how large of a break homeowners should receive when they make improvements such as adding hurricane shutters, stronger shingles or clips or straps that secure the roof to the walls. Under the new rule, insurers will have to give homeowners a discount that in most cases will double what they now offer.

Insurers could offer higher or lower discounts, but if they are lower than the percentage spelled out in the rule, the company would have to justify it to the Office of Insurance Regulation. The discounts vary by company, and factors such as where the house is built and how old it is.

The state’s large insurers all offer mitigation discounts on the portion of the hurricane insurance premium that covers wind damage.

The insurance industry generally is supportive of the plan, having argued for years that one of the biggest ways to put a dent in spiraling costs is for people to make their homes more able to stand up to storms.

Florida Insurance Council spokesman Sam Miller said that while the discounts are an incentive to make the improvements, it’s not the only reason. “You mitigate because it’s a life safety issue,” Miller said.