The My Safe Florida Home program will stop taking new applications in the next few days, after reaching a goal set by the Florida Legislature one year ahead of schedule.
State lawmakers last year directed the program to provide inspections for at least 400,000 site-built, single-family residential properties and provide grants to at least 35,000 applicants before June 30, 2009. The program, averaging more than 5,000 new sign-ups a day, met the grant goal in May, according to a release from Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink.
Participating homeowners received a free wind inspection report, which suggests ways to harden their homes against storm damage, and informs homeowners if they are currently eligible to save money on their wind insurance premiums.
To date, 58 percent of homeowners who have received a free wind inspection were eligible for discounts on their wind insurance premiums averaging $219.31 statewide, the release said. The My Safe Florida Home program, including local government and nonprofits, has approved about 39,000 homeowners for mitigation grants and has paid 18,787 grants totaling more than $63.8 million, the release said.
