Short answer: yes, and not as a favor from your insurer, but because Florida law requires it. Florida Statute 627.0629 obligates residential insurers to offer discounts on the windstorm portion of your premium for construction features that demonstrably reduce hurricane damage. Impact-rated windows and doors are one of the clearest ways to earn one of those credits. Here's how the mechanism actually works, and where homeowners leave money on the table.
The windstorm portion: where the credit lives
Your homeowner premium isn't one number: part covers fire, theft and liability, and part, often the largest part in South Florida, covers windstorm. Wind-mitigation credits apply to that windstorm portion only. That's why the same upgrade moves premiums differently for different homes: a coastal home whose premium is mostly windstorm has more for the credit to bite into than an inland home with a smaller wind slice. It's also why nobody can honestly promise you a specific dollar figure.
The opening-protection credit: 'all openings' means all
The credit impact windows earn is the opening-protection credit, and it has a rule that surprises people: to qualify for the strongest rating, every glazed opening in the home's envelope needs verified protection: windows, exterior doors, sliding glass doors, skylights, and the garage door rated too. One unprotected bathroom window can hold the whole rating back. That's why we always quote opening protection as a complete envelope, not window by window.
How the credit is captured: the wind-mitigation inspection
Insurers don't take your word for it; they take a licensed inspector's. A wind-mitigation inspection documents your home's qualifying features on the state's standard form, and that form is changing: the new OIR-B1-1802 takes effect in April 2026, with credits from it applied starting July 2026. The flow is simple: install the impact protection (permitted and inspected, your permit file is part of the evidence), have the wind-mitigation inspection done, submit the form to your insurer, and the credit applies to the windstorm portion at your next renewal.
Beyond the discount: what the credit doesn't capture
- Insurability itself: in a market where carriers have gotten selective, a protected envelope makes your home an easier risk to place.
- Protection that's always on: no panels to hang, no ladder before a storm, no gamble on the forecast.
- The everyday extras: security-grade laminated glass, meaningful noise reduction, UV filtering.
- Code compliance on replacements: in Miami-Dade and Broward (HVHZ) and in Palm Beach's wind-borne debris region, replacement glazing must be protected anyway; impact glass satisfies it permanently.
Frequently asked questions
How much will my premium actually go down?
Honestly: it depends on your policy and how much of your premium is windstorm. The law requires the credit; it doesn't set its size. Your insurer or agent can model it from a wind-mitigation form, and that form is the thing your window project makes possible.
Do shutters earn the same credit as impact windows?
Verified shutters can qualify for opening-protection credit too; the difference is practical, not legal: shutters only protect when someone deploys them, while impact glass protects permanently and adds the security, noise and UV benefits shutters don't.
I already have some impact windows. Do I get partial credit?
Ratings hinge on the whole envelope, so partial protection often earns little or nothing until the remaining openings are done. If you're partway there, finishing the envelope is usually the highest-leverage move: we can quote exactly what's left.
Does the OIR-B1-1802 form change affect my existing credits?
The new form takes effect April 2026 and applies to inspections from then on, with its credits applied from July 2026. If you're planning an installation, timing the wind-mitigation inspection after completion, on whichever form is current, is what locks the credit in.
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