Current Laws:
Insurance statutes, laws, rulings, and regulations can be confusing.
We here at Budget Roofs want to help with that.
Below you can find an easy to read, professional interpretation of these stipulations and how they apply to you.
Synopsis:
The 25% Rule
Recent changes by the Florida Legislature have changed the Sunshine State’s famous “25% Rule,” which governs when an entire roof must be replaced even if only a part of the roof is being repaired.
Previously, the 25% Rule stated if 25% or more of an existing roof system has to be replaced, the entire roof be done to the most recent version of the Florida Building Code.
Under the new 25% Rule,
IF: a roofing system or roof section has been built, repaired, or replaced in compliance with the requirements of the 2007 Florida Building Code,
AND;
25% or more of this roofing system or roof section is now being repaired, replaced, or recovered,
THEN, the entire roof does not have to be redone to comply with the current version of the Florida Building Code; only the portion being repaired, replaced, or recovered does.
Reinsurance to Assist Policyholders Program (RAP Program)
The RAP Program is a new layer of reinsurance reimbursement. The RAP Program will reimburse 90% of your insurance company’s covered losses and 10 percent of its loss adjustment expenses up to your insurance company’s limit of coverage for the two hurricanes that cause its largest losses.
This should translate into savings for you. Since your insurance company does not pay premiums for RAP coverage, their rates must be reduced to reflect these savings. By the 2023-2024 contract year, all eligible insurers should have reduced their rates to reflect their savings from the RAP Program.
The RAP Program started in 2022-2023 contract year. Unless the Insurance Commissioner certifies your insurer as in “unsound financial condition,” it has to participate in the RAP Program for at least a year.
Roof Age and Insurer Underwriting
The Florida Legislature made a recent change to roofing laws that prevents insurance companies from refusing to renew your home’s insurance policy because of the age of your roof.
If your roof is less than 15 years old, your insurance company cannot use its age as a basis for refusal.
If it is 15 years old or older, your insurance company must allow you to have a roof inspection performed by an authorized inspector before making replacement of the roof a requirement of issuing or renewing an insurance policy.
However, if the roof inspection reveals that the roof has 5 or more years of useful life, your insurance company cannot refuse to issue or renew your policy on the basis of the roof.
The age of a roof is calculated using the last date 100% of the roof was built or replaced or the initial date of a partial roof replacement when subsequent partial repairs resulted in 100% of the roof being replaced.
