What is a 4-point and wind mitigation and do I need them?

The 4-point: can this house be insured at all

The 4-point inspection looks at four systems — roof, electrical, plumbing and HVAC — and most carriers ask for one once a house reaches roughly thirty years old. It is close to pass or fail in practice.

• An old roof with little remaining life.
• A Federal Pacific or Zinsco electrical panel.
• Polybutylene supply lines.
• Cloth wiring.

Any of those can make a house uninsurable at ordinary rates, which is a pricing problem long before it is a repair problem.

The wind mitigation: what actually lowers the bill

This is the report that pays for itself. It documents the features that decide how a house behaves in a windstorm, and each one is credited separately.

• Roof shape, because a hip roof performs differently from a gable.
• Roof deck attachment — the nail size and spacing holding the deck down.
• Roof-to-wall connections: toe-nails, clips or straps, in ascending order of credit.
• Opening protection, meaning impact glass or shutters, on every opening including the garage door.

Hip roof plus straps plus impact glass is a meaningful discount. I have seen this swing premiums by thousands in Seminole County.

Get the wind mitigation even if nobody asks

Carriers do not chase you to reduce your own premium. If your house already has clips or straps and current-code openings and nobody has documented it, you are paying for protection you have. The report is inexpensive and lasts several years.

1. 1Order the wind mitigation before your renewal, not after.
2. 2Give the completed form to your agent and ask for the premium to be re-rated.
3. 3Repeat it after any roof work, because a re-roof can change three of the four credited items at once.

If the reports come back badly

Most of what fails is fixable, and some of it is cheap during work you are doing anyway. The order of impact is in retrofits that lower a Florida insurance bill, and if the roof is the problem, how to compare roof quotes covers what to insist on.

Who orders them, and when

A buyer usually orders both during the inspection period, and an owner orders the wind mitigation whenever a renewal is coming or work has been done to the roof. They are separate appointments from the home inspection and they are inexpensive next to what they decide.

• The 4-point is required by the carrier, so ask your agent which form they accept before you book.
• The wind mitigation form is standard statewide, which is why the same report works across carriers when you shop.
• Keep both in a folder with the permits. They are the documents that shorten every future insurance conversation.