Section 27-31D-1 Premium discount or insurance rate reduction - Construction and certification.
Section 27-31D-1
Premium discount or insurance rate reduction - Construction and certification.
(a) Commencing on May 14, 2009, insurance companies shall provide a premium discount or insurance rate reduction in an amount and manner as established in subsection (d) and pursuant to Section 27-31D-3. In addition, insurance companies may also offer additional adjustments in deductible, other credit rate differentials, or a combination thereof, collectively referred to as adjustments. These adjustments shall be available under the terms specified in this section to any owner who builds or locates a new insurable property, in any county contiguous to the Gulf of Mexico and Mobile Bay, to resist loss due to hurricane or other catastrophic windstorm events.
(b) To obtain the adjustment provided in this section, an insurable property located in this state shall be certified as constructed in accordance with the 2006 International Residential Code, as amended, including all hurricane mitigation construction requirements, or the Fortified For Safe Living Standards (FFSLS), as may from time to time be adopted by the Institute for Business and Home Safety. An insurable property shall be certified as conforming to the applicable building code only after an inspection of the insurable property has been satisfactorily completed by a certified or licensed building inspector and certified to be conforming to the applicable building code including all hurricane mitigation construction requirements. An insurable property shall be certified as conforming to FFSLS criteria only after inspection and certification by an FFSLS certified inspector.
(c) An owner of insurable property claiming an adjustment pursuant to this section shall maintain sufficient certification records and construction records including, but not limited to, a certification of compliance with the applicable building code or FFSLS criteria provided in subsection (b), receipts from contractors, receipts for materials, and records from local building officials. The records shall be subject to audit by the Commissioner of Insurance, or his or her representatives, and copies of any such records shall be presented to the insurer or potential insurer of a property owner before the adjustment becomes effective for the insurable property.
(d) Insurers required to submit rates and rating plans to the commissioner shall submit an actuarially justified rating plan for any person who builds an insurable property to comply with the sets of requirements of subsection (b). An insurer is not required to provide the same amount of adjustment for a building code insurable property as the insurer would to an FFSLS insurable property. An adjustment shall only apply to policies that provide wind coverage and may apply to that portion of the premium for wind coverage or to the total premium if the insurer does not separate out its premium for wind coverage in its rate filing. The adjustment shall apply exclusively to the premium designated for the improved insurable property. In addition to the requirements of this section, an insurer may voluntarily offer any other mitigation adjustment that the insurer deems appropriate.
(Act 2009-500, §1.)