Fortified roof grant program carries over millions in unspent funds
26th August 2024 · 0 Comments
By Wesley Muller
Contributing Writer
(lailluminator.com) — The Louisiana Department of Insurance is preparing to launch its second year of the fortified roof grant program with at least $10 million leftover in unspent money.
The Louisiana Fortify Homes Program, which offers $10,000 to homeowners who install hurricane-resistant roofs on their houses, is approaching its one-year anniversary from when the first application period opened last October with $30 million in funding to help address the state’s insurance crisis.
LDI spokesman John Ford said his agency plans to announce next week the official date of the 2024 application period.
From last year’s budget, the state has so far issued 1,321 grants out of a total of 3,150 applications received. Another 122 grants are nearing completion, which means new fortified roofs have been installed and are undergoing final inspections and review.
Roughly 230 roofs are in the construction phase, and a little more than 400 have been approved for construction but don’t yet have a contractor, Ford said.
That leaves nearly one-third, or 1,086, of last year’s grant applications that won’t receive funding for various reasons. Most of them are homeowners who withdrew because they couldn’t afford the costs that exceed the amount of the grant, which is the main weak spot of the program, Ford said.
“A lot are getting quotes and not proceeding,” he said.
The Fortify Homes Program offers homeowners grants of up to $10,000, but homeowners need to cover any costs that exceed that amount. They also might need to pay for some of the work upfront because the state issues grant checks to contractors only after they complete the job.
The average cost of a new roof in Louisiana can range between $5,000 and $12,000 depending on size, materials and other factors, according to Premier South Roofing & Sheet Metal.
A fortified roof, which is one that meets standards set by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, can increase the cost from an additional $1,000 to $3,000 for a 2,000-square-foot home, according to the IBHS.
Such roofs are built with improved materials and techniques that can stop leaks and withstand winds of up to 150 mph, lowering the risk of storm damage and typically leading to lower homeowner insurance rates.
Ford said the insurance department is very cognizant of the cost issue and is exploring partnerships with nonprofits that can help cover the gap. The agency hopes to have one of those partnerships in place within the next couple of months, he said.
Last year’s unspent grant money will carry over to this year’s budget. The Louisiana Legislature allocated $15 million to the program this year and had initially expected there to be about $5 million in unspent grant funds that would carry over from last year. That amount has doubled and could increase slightly, bringing the total budget for the program to at least $25 million this year.
Even with one-third of the grant applications going unfunded, Louisiana’s fortified roof program is still on pace to exceed the state the program is modeled after – Alabama, which took years to reach those numbers.
Alabama began its roof grant program in 2011 and has fortified 6,000 roofs as of May 2023, according to an Alabama Department of Insurance news release. That’s an average of about 500 per year.
To qualify for a fortified roof grant, Louisiana homeowners have to get a state-approved evaluator to inspect their home. They must then obtain bids from at least three insurance department-approved contractors who can do the work. The department’s website lists approved evaluators and approved contractors.
Anyone interested in applying should start by creating a profile on the Louisiana Department of Insurance website. For more information, call (225) 342-5900 or visit www.ldi.la.gov/fortifyhomes.
This article originally published in the August 26, 2024 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
