Windstorm Mitigation Credits (Wind-Mit Inspection)

In hurricane-exposed states, an insurer will apply premium credits for construction features that make a building more resistant to windstorm, but only for the features a licensed inspector actually documents on a standardized form. Florida is the clearest example: Florida Statute 627.0629 requires insurers to offer discounts, credits, or other rate differentials for construction techniques that reduce windstorm losses, and those features are recorded on the state Office of Insurance Regulation Uniform Mitigation Verification Inspection Form (form OIR-B1-1802), commonly called a wind-mit inspection. The form captures roof covering and its code compliance, roof deck attachment, roof-to-wall connection type (clips, single wraps, or double wraps rather than plain toe nails), roof geometry (a hip roof performs better than a gable), secondary water resistance under the roof covering, and opening protection (impact-rated windows and doors or rated shutters across all openings). Other coastal states run their own inspection and credit programs, but the mechanism is the same: verified features earn a rate differential on the wind portion of the premium, and undocumented features earn nothing.

Wind-mit credits are one of the few levers a board can pull to lower a coastal premium without cutting coverage, and they are frequently left on the table because the inspection was never ordered or the form went stale after a roof replacement. When the association re-roofs, upgrades to impact-rated openings, or adds shutters, a fresh inspection is what converts that capital spending into a recurring premium credit; the improvement does nothing for the rate until it is documented on the current form and delivered to the carrier. Opening protection generally only counts when every opening on the building is protected, so a partial retrofit may earn less than a board expects. Keep the wind-mit documentation current, reorder it after any qualifying structural or roof work, and treat it as a renewal item rather than a one-time filing, since an expired or missing form can quietly cost the community a credit it already earned through construction. The specific features, forms, and eligibility rules vary by state, so confirm the requirements of the state program that governs the building.

The specialty community-association and coastal wind markets price the wind layer off documented mitigation features, so a complete, current inspection is worth ordering before marketing an account rather than after a quote lands. Ranges and mechanics differ by state and program, and credits are not guaranteed, so treat the inspection as the way to capture whatever differential the carrier's filed program allows rather than as a fixed dollar saving.