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By Ezra Amacher
Louisiana will offer grants to homeowners retrofitting their roofs in order to comply with construction standards that exceed the code, which can reduce insurance rates.
Louisiana Fortify Homes Program (LFHP), which was created last year but did not receive any funding, received $30 million in funding from lawmakers earlier this month. The LFHP allows homeowners to receive up to $10,000 as grants for fortifying their roofs according to the Fortified roof standards of the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety.
At a 14th of June press conference, Louisiana insurance commissioner Jim Donelon stated that applications would be open from October.
The law also requires insurers to provide discounts based on actuarial calculations to those policyholders that build or retrofit buildings that comply with the IBHS Fortified Standard.
Smart Home America says that Louisianans retrofitting or building their homes according to this standard could save between 20-52% of the wind component on their homeowner’s insurance.
If the building or retrofitting has met the Fortified standards, the discount will be applied to the commercial or residential property. Mike Huval says that this legislation encourages more people to construct to Fortified standard outside the grant program.
Legislators passed a bill that requires insurance companies to offer an endorsement on homeowners’ policies to upgrade the non-fortified roof of the policyholder to the standard for Fortified roofing if there is damage to the house.
If you are renewing or writing a policy for an unfortified house after December 31, then the offer of endorsements will be given.
A long-term approach to solving the problem
Fortified is a system that locks down roof edges, seals a deck, uses ring shank nails, and installs impact resistant shingles. The method used for construction, re-roofing and strengthening homes goes beyond the code. In lab tests as well as real world events, Fortified constructions can resist winds of 130 mph and torrential downpours, along with hailstones up to two inches.
Donelon: “Fortified will be our solution for the long term.”
The insurance industry in Alabama funds the Fortified endorsing program. This is different from Louisiana. Alabama’s legislators enacted a law that requires every home owner to carry a Forged endorsement by 2020.
More than 35,000 homes in Alabama have already been constructed to Fortified standard, of which 6,000 are funded through grants.
Donelon explained that Alabama ran out of money within eight seconds after going live. “They broke Taylor Swift’s records.”
Fortified in Louisiana could not have been funded until Louisiana’s lawmakers came into the session this year with a surplus of $1.6 Billion. This was due to budgetary constraints.
Louisiana offers a similar application system to Alabama.
It must be the primary home of an owner with homestead exemption. The residence cannot be a mobile or condo.
LFHP asks for proof of both wind and flood insurance if the house is in a flooding zone. This applies unless there was damage caused by a non-hurricane, windy or hail storm.
If a homeowner has received a grant, he or she can hire LFHP approved contractors to strengthen the roof.
An evaluator will perform all required evaluations, after which the IBHS reviewer will issue the Fortified certification.
When their roofs are in need of replacement, recipients will have to make out-of pocket expenses. Roof replacement costs on average over $11,000.
Fred Malik is the director of FORTIFIED and IBHS. He says that a Louisiana home owner can expect an additional fee between $1,200 and $2,200.
When Louisiana strengthens its properties to meet the standards fortified, it will reassure insurers that they are taking windstorm and Hurricane mitigation in Louisiana seriously.
Kirk Talbot told insurance companies that are looking at Louisiana: “From outside, it looks like we’ve really tightened our building codes to show them we understand the issue.” Our building codes have been tightened up to show insurance companies that Louisiana is a major target when it comes to hurricanes or named storms.
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