Florida Wind Mitigation Inspection: What It Costs, How to Prepare, and Which Credits Are Worth Chasing
Most Florida homeowners are overpaying on their hurricane insurance, and the fix costs about a hundred bucks. A wind mitigation inspection is a short visit from a licensed inspector who documents the features of your home that hold up in high winds. Your insurer turns that report into discounts on the wind portion of your premium — and those discounts can reach 45%.
The catch: you only get credit for what the inspector can prove. Walk into it unprepared and you leave money on the table at every renewal.
Already have your report and want to decode it box by box? That’s a different job — start with our guide to reading the OIR-B1-1802 form. This one is about the inspection itself.
Quick Takeaways
- A wind mitigation inspection runs about $75 to $150 and stays valid for five years.
- The credits can total up to 45% off the wind portion of your premium.
- The biggest single credit is the roof-to-wall connection. Opening protection is the one you can improve without touching the roof.
- Missing paperwork costs you credits even when the work was done right — which is why prep matters as much as the inspection.
What a Wind Mitigation Inspection Actually Involves
It’s a one-hour visit. A licensed inspector walks your property, climbs into the attic, and documents seven features that decide how your home performs in a hurricane: the building code it was built under, the roof covering, how the roof deck is nailed down, how the trusses connect to the walls, the roof shape, whether there’s a secondary water barrier, and how your windows and doors are protected.
Each feature maps to a box on the OIR-B1-1802, the standard form every Florida carrier accepts. The inspector checks one box per feature and backs it up with photos. Your carrier reads those boxes and applies the matching discounts.
Here’s the part that surprises people. The inspector doesn’t grade your home on how strong it is — they grade it on what they can verify. A roof renailed to current code earns nothing if there’s no permit, no product approval, and no way to confirm it from the attic. Which is exactly why preparation separates an inspection that pays for itself from one that doesn’t.
What a Wind Mitigation Inspection Costs
In South Florida, a wind mitigation inspection usually runs $75 to $150. Some insurance agents will cover the cost as part of writing your policy, so ask before you pay out of pocket.
The report stays good for five years. And if you’ve done any roof or window work since your last report, don’t wait for the five years to run out. Schedule a fresh inspection as soon as the work is permitted and closed, so you can claim the new credits at your next renewal instead of letting them sit unused.
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How to Prepare for Your Inspection
This is where homeowners win or lose credits, and almost nobody talks about it. An hour of prep before the inspector arrives can be worth hundreds of dollars a year.
- Clear the attic and check the lights: the inspector has to see how your trusses connect to the walls, which means a clear crawl and a working bulb. Boxes over the eaves or a dead light force them to mark down what they can’t confirm.
- Pull your permits and product approvals: dig out the paperwork from any roof, window, or door work — the permit, the Notice of Acceptance, the Florida Product Approval number, even a saved shingle wrapper. Documentation turns “looks compliant” into an actual credit.
- Find your window and shutter labels: opening protection is verified off the manufacturer label on each piece of glass or shutter. If your impact windows went in before 2010, those labels are sometimes missing — track down the product approval number from the manufacturer before the visit, not after.
- Give access to every side of the house: the inspector photographs each elevation. Unlock the gate, pull the patio furniture off the windows, and put the dog away.
Do this and your inspection captures everything you’ve earned. Skip it and you pay full price on credits you already deserve.
Which Credits Are Worth Chasing?
Of the seven features on the form, some you’re born with and some you can change. Sorting them tells you where to spend.
The ones you’re mostly stuck with are your building code year (a date check, not a retrofit), your roof shape (a hip roof beats a gable, but nobody rebuilds a roof for an insurance credit), and for the most part your roof deck nailing. Worth knowing if you’re house-hunting and weighing two similar homes — not projects.
The four you can actually move:
- Roof covering
- Roof-to-wall connection
- Secondary water resistance
- Opening protection
The first three usually only pencil out as part of a planned reroof. If you’re within a year or two of a new roof, talk to your roofer about hurricane straps, a peel-and-stick secondary water barrier, and a Miami-Dade approved shingle all in one job. Bundling unlocks several credits at once and saves you a second mobilization.
Opening protection is the one you can tackle on its own — and it’s usually the highest-return upgrade the inspection will point you toward. Moving every window and door from unprotected to impact-rated shifts your rating to the top tier and triggers the largest single credit on the form.
Your grade is set by your weakest opening. Impact windows everywhere except one bare bathroom window, and the whole home still rates as unprotected.
That’s why covering every opening matters, and why a combination approach often makes the budget work. Impact windows on the front and high-visibility openings, accordion shutters on the sides and back, protects every opening for up to 50% less than going all-impact while still earning the top rating. We walk through the full discount math, the top 5 impact window brands we carry (ES, PGT, ECO, Eastern, and CWS), and how the savings stack in our guide to how impact windows affect your homeowners insurance.
Is a Wind Mitigation Inspection Worth It?
For almost every Florida homeowner, yes… and it isn’t close. The inspection costs about the price of a nice dinner. The credits can knock up to 45% off the wind portion of your hurricane insurance, which on a typical South Florida policy often runs several hundred to well over a thousand dollars a year.
The only reason to hold off is if you suspect a fresh report would come back worse than your last one — say your old report assumed hurricane straps that were never installed. You’re not required to submit a weaker report, so fix the issue first, then inspect.
The Bottom Line
A hundred-dollar visit that can cut your wind premium by up to 45%. Prep your paperwork, give the inspector clean access, and protect every opening — that’s how you capture the credits you’ve already earned.
Frequently Asked Questions
Usually $75 to $150 in South Florida. Some agents fold it into writing your policy, so ask whether yours will cover it before you pay.
Plan on 45 minutes to an hour. The inspector needs attic access, exterior access to every side of the house, and ideally your permit packet if you’ve still got it.
A licensed professional from Florida’s approved list: building inspectors, general contractors, building code officials, engineers, architects, or Certified Building Code Administrators. Your insurer may keep a list, or you can hire one independently.
No. A wind mitigation inspection only affects the wind portion of your homeowners (hurricane) insurance. Flood insurance is a separate policy — through the NFIP or a private carrier — underwritten on its own terms with no connection to your wind mitigation report.
Every five years, or sooner if you reroof, add hurricane straps, or upgrade to impact windows. Book a fresh inspection right after the work so you can claim the new credits at renewal instead of waiting.
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