Oak & Anchor Roofing blog

How a New Roof Can Lower Your Homeowner's Insurance on the Treasure Coast

Jaimie Hullihen — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 14:45:02 GMT

If your homeowner's insurance bill has gone up in the last few years, you're not imagining it. Florida's insurance market has been in significant upheaval — private carriers have pulled back from coastal counties, Citizens Insurance has tightened its requirements, and premiums across the Treasure Coast have climbed for many homeowners regardless of whether they've ever filed a claim.

What a lot of homeowners don't realize is that their roof is one of the biggest factors driving that number — and that a new roof is often one of the most effective ways to bring it back down.

This isn't a sales pitch. It's how Florida's insurance system actually works, and it's worth understanding before your next renewal comes around.

Why Your Roof Affects Your Insurance Premium

In most parts of the country, your roof is one factor among many when an insurer calculates your premium. In Florida — and specifically on the Treasure Coast, where hurricane exposure is real and year-round — it's often the single biggest one.

Florida's insurers are looking at two things when they assess your roof: how old it is, and how well it was built to withstand wind. An older roof built before modern Florida Building Code wind standards typically means higher risk in the insurer's model, which typically means a higher premium. A newer roof built to current standards, with features that the state formally recognizes as hurricane-resistant, can work in your favor at renewal time.

“Many private insurers now impose limits of 15 to 20 years for asphalt shingle roofs,” and some have tightened further. “Citizens Property Insurance generally requires shingle roofs to be under 25 years old, and tile, metal, or concrete roofs to be under 50 years old.” “Roofs older than those thresholds require documentation showing at least five years of remaining useful life before Citizens will write or renew a policy.”

For homeowners in Stuart, Port St. Lucie,Jensen Beach, Palm City, and the surrounding area — where a significant portion of the housing stock was built in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s — this is not an abstract concern. If your roof is approaching or past that threshold, your insurer is paying close attention. In many cases, a new roof doesn't just lower your premium. It keeps you insurable.

The Wind Mitigation Inspection — What It Is and Why It Matters

Here's where it gets specific — and where many Treasure Coast homeowners leave money on the table.

Florida has a formal programme called the wind mitigation inspection. It's a state-standardised evaluation of your home's hurricane-resistant features, documented on a form called the OIR-B1-1802. Once completed by a licensed inspector, that form is submitted to your insurance carrier.

“Florida Statute 627.0629(1) requires every property insurer in the state to discount the windstorm portion of your premium based on what the inspection finds.” That's not optional for the carrier — it's the law.

The OIR-B1-1802 was updated effective April 1, 2026, based on a state-commissioned wind-loss study, so if your inspection report predates that, it may be worth scheduling a new one to see if your credits have changed.

What does the inspection actually look at? The main features that typically qualify for meaningful credits are:

Roof shape. A hip roof — where all four sides slope down to the walls — generally performs better in high winds than a gable roof. Insurers typically recognize this with a credit under the wind mitigation programme.

Roof deck attachment. How the roof deck is nailed to the structure beneath it matters significantly in a storm. Ring-shank nails and closer nail spacing typically score better than smooth-shank nails at wider spacing — which was common before the 2001 Florida Building Code updates.

Secondary water resistance. A self-adhering underlayment beneath the roofing material — commonly called peel-and-stick — provides a secondary barrier if the primary roofing is damaged in a storm. Homes built before this was standard often don't have it.

Roof-to-wall connections. How the roof connects to the walls of the house is one of the most structurally significant factors in a high-wind event. Hurricane straps and clips, properly installed, typically earn meaningful credits.

Roof covering. The age and type of material matters. A newer roof installed to current Florida Building Code standards is generally rated to handle higher wind speeds than an older one.

A new roof built to current code typically improves several of these categories at once — which is why the inspection and the replacement are often connected. When Oak & Anchor installs a new roof, we document the installation in the way that makes the subsequent wind mitigation inspection as clear and well-supported as possible.

What the Savings Can Look Like

We want to be careful here — insurance savings vary significantly based on your carrier, your coverage amount, your location, and exactly which features your home qualifies for. We can't tell you what your premium will be after a new roof and wind mitigation inspection, and anyone who gives you a specific number without seeing your policy and your home is guessing.

What we can tell you is what Treasure Coast homeowners commonly experience.

A wind mitigation inspection can save Florida homeowners anywhere from $100 to more than $1,000 per year, depending on the home's wind-resistant features, insurance carrier, and location. For coastal areas like Martin and St. Lucie County where base premiums tend to be higher, homeowners often find themselves at the higher end of that range. The inspection itself is valid for five years — so the cost is typically recovered in a matter of months, and the savings compound over the life of the report.

The picture changes even further when you factor in the broader insurance relationship. A new roof — particularly one installed to current code with documented features — can often open doors to better policy terms, additional carrier options, and in some cases renewal eligibility that wasn't available with the old roof. That's harder to put a number on, but for homeowners approaching the insurer's age thresholds, it can be significant.

Citizens Insurance and the Treasure Coast Specifically

It's worth addressing Citizens Insurance directly, because it affects a lot of Treasure Coast homeowners - The following are taken from https://www.citizensfla.com/inspections

“A significant portion of homeowners in Port St. Lucie carry policies through Citizens Property Insurance, the state-backed insurer of last resort. Citizens has specific rules around roof age and condition that affect both coverage and renewal eligibility.”

“Citizens requires a four-point inspection for all property applications on homes more than 20 years old, covering the electrical system, plumbing, HVAC, and roof.”

If your roof doesn't pass that inspection, or if it falls outside Citizens' age requirements, your options for coverage narrow quickly.

The good news is that a new roof resolves most of these issues cleanly. It resets the age clock, satisfies the condition requirements, and positions your home favourably for both Citizens and the private carrier market if you're looking to move off Citizens in the future.

What to Do Next

If your roof is more than 15 years old — or if your insurer has flagged it at renewal — it's worth getting a professional inspection before your next renewal date rather than waiting for a problem.

At Oak & Anchor Roofing, we're happy to take a look at your roof, give you an honest assessment of its condition, and talk through what a replacement might mean for your insurance situation. We're not insurance agents and we can't predict what your carrier will do — but we can tell you exactly what we're seeing on your roof and what a replacement would involve.

If we think your roof has meaningful life left and a repair makes more sense, we'll tell you that too. That's just how we work.

Get a free estimate

Call or text: (772) 325-1727

Oak & Anchor Roofing serves Stuart, Port St. Lucie, Jensen Beach, Palm City, Hobe Sound, Fort Pierce, Jupiter, and Tequesta. GAF certified · Licensed CBC-1269569 · CCC-1337735 · 10-year workmanship warranty.

Why We're Different: The Oak & Anchor Standard

Jaimie Hullihen — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 15:03:53 GMT

Here's something most roofing companies won't tell you: in a lot of cases, the person who sells you the job is not the person who does it. You meet a salesperson, sign a contract, and then a crew shows up — sometimes from out of state, sometimes working for a subcontractor you've never heard of. The company whose name is on the truck might not even know your name by the time the job is done.

That's just how a lot of the industry works. It's not always intentional — large roofing companies scale by systematizing, and somewhere in that process the homeowner becomes a job number. You get a start date, a completion date, and a warranty document. What you don't always get is someone who actually cares whether the roof holds up five years from now.

Most homeowners don't find out how that system works until something goes wrong — a leak, a callback that never comes, a warranty claim that somehow doesn't qualify. By then, the salesperson has moved on. The subcontractor has a different company name. And the homeowner is stuck.

We built Oak & Anchor because we thought it should work differently.

You're Dealing with Us — All of Us

When you call Oak & Anchor Roofing, you're talking to Bryan, Jaimie, or Preston. That's the company. Three people, one team, and our names are on the license.

There's no sales department handing you off to an operations team. There's no regional manager who doesn't know your address. No subcontractors hired off a list the day before your job starts. When you call us with a question, we answer it. When something comes up mid-project, we handle it. When the job is done, we're still the ones you call — not a customer service line, not a ticketing system.

Bryan has been in the construction industry for over 20 years. He started his first company at 18. The way he approaches a roofing project today is the same way he approached his first one — you show up, you do the work right, and you make sure the person paying for it feels confident about what they're getting. Jaimie runs operations with the kind of precision that means your project doesn't fall through the cracks — scheduling, communication, documentation, all of it. Preston is usually your first point of contact, and he brings the same level of service to a repair call as he does to a full replacement. Because in our world, there's no such thing as a small job done carelessly.

We know that sounds simple. It is. But it's rarer than it should be in this industry, and we think that says more about the industry than it does about us.

We Actually Live Here

Bryan, Jaimie, and Preston are Treasure Coast locals. We shop at the same stores as you, go to the same church, drop off at the same schools. When Oak & Anchor finishes your roof, we drive past it on the way to pick up our kids.

That last part matters more than it sounds.

When you work in the same community you live in, your reputation isn't some abstract thing that lives in a Google rating. It's the conversation at school pickup. It's running into a past client at the grocery store. It's the neighbor who asks your neighbor who did their roof. It travels through the community in ways that no marketing campaign can manufacture — and in ways that no amount of money can fix if you get it wrong.

We are not anonymous here. We can't afford to be anything less than genuine with every single person we work with, because the Treasure Coast is the kind of place where everyone knows everyone eventually. A job cut short, a call not returned, a problem not fixed — those things don't stay quiet for long.

And honestly? We wouldn't want them to. That accountability is part of what keeps us sharp. We're not operating at arm's length from the consequences of our work. We're embedded in them. That's not a burden — it's the reason we do things the way we do.

What "The Best" Actually Means

We use the best materials. GAF Timberline shingles. Metal Ops standing seam panels — a South Florida exclusive supplier based right here in Stuart. Westlake Royal tile. These aren't materials we chose because they were the cheapest option that would still pass inspection. They're what we'd put on our own homes. Which, for the record, we have.

We're GAF certified — a designation held by fewer than 2% of roofing contractors in the country. That unlocks the strongest warranty available on GAF products, and it means every installation we do has been completed to a verified standard of quality. Not a standard we set for ourselves. A standard set by the manufacturer and audited externally.

We also build to Florida's most stringent code requirements. Every roof we install is documented — for insurance purposes, for wind mitigation inspections, for your records. Because a roof in South Florida isn't just a cosmetic investment. It's what stands between your home and the next storm season. It needs to be right.

The best work, with the best materials, done by people who have to drive past it every morning. That's the standard we hold ourselves to — not because it's what our marketing says, but because anything less would be embarrassing.

The Warranty That Costs Us More

We offer a 10-year workmanship warranty on every roof we install.

We're going to be honest with you: that's not cheap for us. Manufacturer warranties cover the materials — the shingles, the tile, the metal panels. Our workmanship warranty covers everything else. If there's an installation error, a flashing failure, a problem that comes from how we built it rather than what it was built with — that's on us. We come back. We fix it. No invoice.

Most contractors offer two years. Some offer five. Ten years means we're accountable for this roof for a decade, and we made that choice with full awareness of what it costs us.

We offer it because anything less would feel dishonest. If we're confident enough in our work to shake your hand and take your money, we should be confident enough to stand behind it for ten years. The warranty isn't a selling point — it's what happens when you actually believe in what you build. It's the logical conclusion of doing things right the first time.

The Question Worth Asking

Before you hire any roofing contractor — us or anyone else — try this: call them and ask to speak to the owner.

Not the owner's voicemail. Not an account manager who reports to the owner. The owner.

See what happens. See how long it takes. See whether the person who picks up knows the details of your job, or whether you get passed around until someone gives up and takes a message.

This isn't a trick question or a gotcha. It's one of the most honest tests of how a roofing company actually operates. The companies where ownership is involved in day-to-day work are the ones where the standard is consistently high — because the person setting the standard is the person doing the work.

Call us at (772) 325-1727. Ask for Bryan.

He'll answer. And if he's on a roof when you call, he'll call you back within the hour.

That's not a policy. That's just how we work.

Oak & Anchor Roofing serves Stuart, Port St. Lucie, Jensen Beach, Palm City, Hobe Sound, Fort Pierce, Jupiter, and Tequesta. Get a free estimate today.