How can I cut my South Florida home insurance with a wind mitigation and 4-point inspection?

The wind mitigation inspection is the one specifically used to document features that may qualify your home for windstorm insurance discounts. A four-point inspection primarily evaluates the roof, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC systems to help the insurer determine whether it will offer coverage. For your 1988 home, I would ask your broker whether your current policy already includes all available wind mitigation credits. Features such as roof-to-wall connections, roof deck attachment, roof shape, secondary water resistance, and protected openings can matter. Roof age and condition also affect your insurance options. Before spending money on upgrades, have your broker explain which improvements would qualify for additional credits and estimate the savings. Then compare quotes with the same coverage limits and deductibles so you can see whether you’re getting a better price for comparable protection.

For a 1988 home in South Florida, I would absolutely have the wind mitigation inspection done. That's the inspection specifically designed to document hurricane-resistant features that can qualify you for insurance discounts. Florida requires insurers to offer wind-mitigation discounts, and the savings are applied to the wind portion of the policy. The 4-point inspection is different. It primarily documents the condition and age of the home's major systems—roof, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC. Your insurer may require it for an older home or use it as part of underwriting, but it isn't the inspection that directly establishes the state's wind-mitigation credits. For the wind inspection, some of the important items include: • Roof covering and age/installation • Roof-deck attachment • Roof-to-wall connections, such as clips or straps • Secondary water resistance/sealed roof deck • Opening protection for windows, doors and garage doors The current Florida wind-mitigation form specifically evaluates these features, including roof-to-wall connections, sealed roof decks and opening protection. For your question about fixing things beforehand, don't spend thousands of dollars on upgrades simply because you think they will lower the premium. I'd have the inspection done first. The inspector can document what you already have, and then your insurance agent can tell you what specific improvement would produce a meaningful discount with your carrier. If your windows or garage door already have qualifying impact protection, make sure you have any permits, product approvals, invoices or documentation available. Those documents can be important when the inspector is verifying the features. I'd also ask your insurance broker to show you the actual dollar savings for each potential mitigation improvement. Florida's Office of Insurance Regulation notes that the discounts are not simply added together, so you want to know the potential savings before spending money on an upgrade. One more thing: Florida's wind-mitigation inspection form was updated effective April 1, 2026, so make sure you're getting the current form and using an authorized inspector. With a $6,900 annual premium, I'd definitely get the wind mitigation done and then have your broker shop the updated inspection results with multiple carriers. You may find that the inspection itself saves money, but comparing carriers after the inspection could be just as important. Juan Picos Realtor | JohnHart Real Estate

Ashley, this is definitely a personal choice, but living in Florida, I would want to personally make sure I have all the insurance available due to the natural disaster probability. Keith Jean-Pierre Managing Principal The Dapper Agents Real Estate Operations in ALL 50 States

Ashley, the wind mitigation is what moves your premium, the 4-point just decides whether a carrier will write you at all on a 1988 house. One thing worth doing before the inspector shows up that costs nothing: clear out your attic access. The inspector has to photograph your roof-to-wall connections, and a blocked hatch gets scored at the worst assumption, which can cost you a real credit for no reason. Get the report first, then have your broker shop it to multiple carriers including Citizens, rather than handing it to your current carrier and hoping. Zoltan

Ashley, the wind mitigation inspection is the one most directly tied to insurance discounts in Florida. Insurance companies use the 4-point inspection to decide whether they'll insure you. It mainly evaluates the condition of an older home's roof, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC systems. For a 1988 home, the wind mitigation inspection can document features that qualify for credits, including the roof covering, roof-to-deck attachment, roof-to-wall connections such as hurricane clips or straps, roof shape, secondary water resistance, and protection fr windows, doors, and other openings. I would get the wind mitigation report first and have your broker price the policy using the existing credits. Then ask which missing feature would actually produce enough additional savings to justify upgrading it. For the 4-point inspection, it makes sense to correct obvious electrical, plumbing, HVAC, or roof deficiencies beforehand because those issues can affect insurability. At $6,900 a year, I would get both inspections, give the report to your broker, and have them shop several carriers. The goal isn't simply passing the inspections; it's finding out which documented improvements produce the biggest actual premium reduction before spending money on upgrades. Brenda Ashby | REALTOR® | JohnHart Real Estate | DRE License # 01700249

Ashley, the wind mitigation is the one that moves your premium. The 4-point is mostly about whether a carrier will write you at all, which on a 1988 house still matters, but it isn't where the savings come from. On the wind mit, opening protection and how the roof is attached to the walls tend to carry the most weight. Roof shape and the age of the covering factor in too. Straps and clips are hard to change after the fact, so that part is what it is. Here's what I'd do rather than guess. Order the wind mitigation first and read the report. It shows exactly which categories you fell short in, and then you can price out whether fixing one is worth a re-inspection. Fixing blind before the inspector arrives is how people spend money for nothing. At $6,900 your broker should be shopping other carriers too. I'm licensed in California, so an independent agent there will know your local carriers far better than I do. Alla Novytska, Realtor®, JohnHart Real Estate, DRE #02254775

The wind mitigation is the one that lowers your premium. The 4-point is an eligibility document - it tells a carrier whether they'll write or renew you at all, and at what tier. Two different jobs, and they get confused constantly. Get both, but expect the savings to come from the wind mit. What the wind mitigation actually reports, roughly in order of how much it tends to move the number: Roof covering - the permit date and whether the roof meets the current code. This is why roof age dominates the conversation. Roof deck attachment - the nail size and spacing holding the deck down. Roof-to-wall connection - toe nails versus clips versus single wraps versus double wraps. This is the line item that surprises people most, because the difference between clips and wraps is substantial. Roof geometry - a true hip roof earns a credit. You can't change it, but it's worth knowing what you have. Secondary water resistance - a sealed roof deck. Opening protection - impact-rated windows and doors, or code-approved shutters. The critical detail: the meaningful credit generally requires all openings to be protected. Partial protection earns much less, which is the trap on a 1988 house where someone did the front windows and stopped. What the 4-point is looking for, on a house that age: roof, electrical, plumbing, HVAC. The usual eligibility problems in that era are aluminum branch wiring, certain older panel brands, polybutylene supply plumbing, cast iron drains, and an aged roof or air handler. Those aren't discount items - they're insurability items, and increasingly the difference between a normal policy and a hard one to place. Worth fixing anything first? Yes for a known 4-point disqualifier. If you already know you have a problem panel or polybutylene, address it before anyone documents it, because once it's on a report it follows the house. For the wind mit, credits come from what exists, not from what anyone says. But if a roof replacement is anywhere in your plans, that's the moment that matters: make sure the contractor documents deck attachment, installs and documents a sealed deck for secondary water resistance, and pulls the permit correctly. Those are one-time opportunities that disappear the moment it's closed up. Free and routinely overlooked: make the attic accessible. The inspector has to photograph the roof-to-wall connections, and an attic they can't get into gets scored at the worst assumption. Clear the hatch, move the boxes. People lose real credits to a blocked access panel. Skip cosmetic prep - it isn't that kind of inspection. After you have the report, don't just hand it to your current carrier and hope. Have your broker re-rate with multiple carriers using the new report, and ask whether you're eligible to compare against Citizens. A wind mit report is portable and valid for a defined period - ask your inspector how long yours is good for. And ask for the photographs, not just the form; they're what a carrier's underwriter actually looks at. I'm a real estate broker, not an insurance agent, and I'm licensed in Alabama rather than Florida. Your broker and a licensed Florida inspector are the right people to confirm all of this - and no one can promise you a specific reduction, since carriers rate differently and the credits depend entirely on what the inspection finds. Dustin Woodley, Camelot Properties, LLC - serving Montgomery, Prattville, Millbrook, Wetumpka, Pike Road, Auburn, Opelika, Lake Martin and the Tri County River Region area.