2023 Hurricane Preparedness Guide: Homeowners Eligible for Roofing Remediation Grants
Published Friday June 30, 2023 2:51 pm
The Louisiana Fortified Homes Program provides eligible Louisiana homeowners with a grant of up to $10,000 for the total cost of replacing or retrofitting their property’s roof to meet or exceed fortified standards. (American Press Archives)
The Louisiana Fortified Homes Program (LFHP) received $30 million in funding during the 2023 Louisiana Legislative Session.
Through this grant program, eligible Louisiana homeowners will receive up to $10,000 toward the total cost of replacing or retrofitting the roofs of their homes to meet or exceed established standards.
The $30 million secured has the potential to fortify 30,000 homes in Louisiana.
Homeowners are eligible if their properties are in good condition, unless they suffered weather-related damage. You must also have proof of home wind insurance and flood insurance if it is located in a designated National Flood Insurance Program flood zone.
Eligible homeowners must find and pay for all legally required appraisals, inspections and permits while participating in the program.
The appraiser can be chosen by the homeowner but must be certified to Fortified standards. Contractors must also be LFHP accredited.
This law was introduced in the 2022 Louisiana legislature by Rep. Michael Huval. The law was passed and put into effect, but not funded.
Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said at a news conference earlier this month that there was strong support for LFHP funding on a “broad, bipartisan basis”.
For Huval, encouraging policyholders in Louisiana to remodel their homes to meet established standards will benefit everyone. “One of the best ways to prepare for hurricanes is to use stronger materials and construction methods when building or repairing our homes,” he said. “I believe this program will help many people withstand storm damage in the near future and potentially reduce homeowners insurance costs for the entire state in the long term.”
The fastener standards were adopted by the Insurance Business Home Safety (IBHS) organization, an industry-backed independent nonprofit organization that researches safety methods to improve property safety. While not building codes, the widely recognized standards are proven to help secure roofs and further protect homes from potential storm damage.
The Fortified standards are divided into three steps: “Nail it Down, Seal it Up, and Lock it Down.”
The steps include small improvements such as using stronger and longer nails placed closer together, covering exposed seams with taped roofing cement to seal roof deck systems, and ensuring efficient edging and water resistant roof coverings are installed.
Louisiana’s adoption of these standards was inspired by the success of the Fortified Standards in Alabama, which improved more than 35,000 homes.
Kirk Talbot, chairman of the Senate Insurance Committee, said Louisiana’s building codes have been tightened and will go into effect in early 2023.
“That got us almost to the level of the boosted code, about 95 percent,” he said.
Any gaps – such as the use of ring nails for shingles – were recently updated by the Louisiana Code Council.
“From an outside perspective — you know, insurance companies across the country are looking at Louisiana — we’ve really tightened our building codes,” he said. “It shows them that we recognize we have a problem, we recognize that we’re a big target for hurricanes and named storms that make landfall, and then we recognize that and we’re doing something about it.”
Two more bills in support of LFHP were introduced during the session, Huval said.
One such bill – House Bill 451 – will authorize insurance companies to provide actuarial rebates and reductions in insurance premiums for residential and commercial buildings that are built or retrofitted to more stringent standards.
He said this legislation mandates rebates and requires insurers to submit rate claims that give policyholders increased rebates. “This will ensure policyholders investing the time, money and effort to erect or upgrade their buildings to strengthen standards will benefit from the decision and will encourage more property owners to opt outside of the standards fortification grant program.” to build.”
Under House Bill 110, insurers must offer endorsement for a homeowners policy that upgrades policyholders’ unfixed roofs to fixed standards if the home suffers storm damage that requires roof replacement.
Under the legislation, insurers are permitted to charge an additional amount of premium if the policyholder chooses to add a endorsement to the policy. The launch date for LFRP has yet to be announced.
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