Alabama Insurance Protection for Your Home

With Alabama being prone to windstorms and other perils it’s essential that home owners have sufficient coverage under their Alabama insurance home policies to rebuild if required. According to the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) it may also be possible for Alabama residents in certain instances to obtain a discount on their premiums if they retrofit, build or rebuild in such a way as to improve the windstorm-resistance of their homes.

The IBHS regularly conducts research and performs live tests to ascertain the steps required to improve the disaster-resistance of new and existing buildings. By building or renovating according to the IBHS’s “FORTIFIED” program’s code-plus standards, home and business owners help to create buildings that are more resilient in terms of withstanding local weather events and disasters. This also means that building owners may be less likely to face hefty repair bills and to need to file insurance claims against their policies.

In 2009 the State of Alabama passed legislation that insurance premium discounts be provided to owners of certain detached dwellings and manufactured homes in Mobile and Baldwin counties. To qualify for a discount homeowners need to build or renovate according to the IBHS’s FORTIFIED for Safer Living code requirements.

The State of Alabama Bulletin outlining this recommendation can be found here. More information on the FORTIFIED programs can be obtained from the IBHS. For more details on Alabama insurance home and business policies, contact our team of agents.

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