Protect Your Home AND Reduce Your Insurance Premiums

Florida Property Insurance

Homeowners’ insurance. It’s one of the quickest ways to elicit groans and muttered curses from homeowners here in Florida, especially those who own property along the coast. In the wake of several of the nastiest hurricane seasons in decades, property insurance premiums in the state rose to unheard of heights – for those who could get insurance at all. While the legislature works on insurance reform, there are some things that you can do to help safeguard your property during hurricane season, many of which will also decrease your insurance premium. Premium reductions vary by insurer, so be sure to check with your agent to find out which home improvements will qualify you for lower premiums.

Window Protection
The most visible and important type of hurricane protection for your home is window protection. Your windows are the most vulnerable part of your home. They can be shattered by objects carried by the 100-130 mile per hour winds, or by the winds themselves. Once a window is shattered, the winds and rain can ravage the inside of your home. Among the types of hurricane window protection commonly used are:

Impact-resistant Glass
Used in federal buildings and commercial architecture products, high-end impact resistant glass can withstand the pressure of a bomb blast and hurricane force winds. Like shatter-resistant glass used in automobiles, it uses an interior film to keep broken glass from shattering. Impact resistant glass is a good choice if you’re replacing windows or doing new construction.

Hurricane Shutters
Hurricane shutters provide protection by covering glass surfaces. The simplest (and least effective) hurricane shutters are plywood panels. There are several different styles of hurricane shutters, some more expensive and more effective than others. They include rolling storm shutters, accordion storm shutters, storm panels and Bahama storm shutters. Storm shutters will protect your windows from both impact breakage and pressure breakage. If you decide to use plywood shutters, install the anchors well in advance and have the plywood ready and labeled to be put in place when needed.

Hurricane Window Film
Hurricane film is applied to the inside of your windows. While it won’t prevent impact breakage, it will keep your windows from shattering, and is designed to stay in place even if the glass breaks, protecting the interior of your home from wind and water damage.

Don’t forget doors – including garage doors – when you’re installing protective coverings. According to the Institute for Business and Home Safety, covering all the openings of your home is the single most important step you can take to protect your home in case of a hurricane.

Safeguard Your Roof
First, be aware that hip roofs are more hurricane resistant than gabled roofs. If you’re building or buying, you might want to keep that in mind. Some insurance companies will offer a premium reduction just for having the right kind of roof. No matter what kind of roof your home has, though, it needs extra protection from hurricane force winds and lashing rain.

Gable End Bracing
If your home was built prior to 1993 and has a gable style roof, have the roof checked to see if it has been braced. Gable end braces are essentially big wooden X’s built of 2x4’s and bolted to the existing roof interior to give it additional structural strength.

Hurricane Straps, Clips and Harnesses
The strong winds of a hurricane create a powerful uplift that can literally lift the roof right off of your house. Hurricane straps and clips are galvanized metal strips that connect the roof’s trusses to the walls of the home. Some systems may even fit over the roof and attach to fasteners in the foundation of the house for additional protection. Newer construction is required to have hurricane straps and/or clips, but your older home may need to be retrofitted.

Shingle Repair
Making sure that your roof is in good repair is one of the single most important things that you can do to ensure that it weathers a storm. Any loose shingles can be torn off your roof during a storm, making the rest of your roof (and the inside of your home) vulnerable to damage. Have your roof inspected by a professional, and repair any loose or broken shingles.

Spray Adhesives
Have you ever used glue to form a protective surface over a finished jigsaw puzzle so that you can hang it? Spray adhesives work on the same principle. A spray foam polyurethane adhesive is applied to the inside of the roof to secure the trusses to the plywood subroof, and also to seal all the seams in the roof area.

Antennas, turbines, etc
Anything that sticks up from your roof is liable to be ripped away from it by the high winds, leaving a gaping hole in your house for the rain and wind to get in. If possible, turbine fans should be replaced by low profile vents, capped, or removed before a storm hits.

Securing Soffits
A soffit is the material covering the underside of your roof overhang. Installed properly, it helps keep moisture and rain out of your house, but it may not always be installed properly. Keeping the soffit in place can help keep water out of your house – which will reduce not only the visible damage but damage that isn’t apparent till weeks and months after the storm – mold, for instance. One way to ensure that the soffits will do their job is to use polyurethane caulk to seal the soffit channel to the wall and prevent water from getting in under it.

Securing the Surroundings
One of the most important things you can do to limit damage is to reduce the objects around the house that can become flying missiles. Keep trees and bushes well-trimmed. Replace gravel/rock landscaping material with shredded bark. Remove unsecured structures like storage sheds.

The more you do to protect your home from the damaging forces of hurricanes, the less repair you’ll have to do after the storm. Your insurance company is well aware of this, and most insurance companies have a brochure or other publication that will tell you more about how to protect your home from hurricanes and other natural disasters. Talk to your insurance agent and find out which protections will also result in dollars off on your premium.

Date: Wednesday, August, 15th 2007 @ 12:07:07 PM
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