Grants to help protect homes against storms' fury

A new program from the state Department of Insurance aims to offer low- income homeowners help with paying for upgrades to protect their property from hurricanes.

Officials say participating ultimately could lead to lower insurance premiums.

Called South Carolina Safe Home, the program provides grants for property owners who upgrade their homes to better withstand storm damage. Qualifying homeowners can save thousands of dollars, said Scott Richardson, Insurance Department director.

Under the program, owners first must get an assessment from a state-certified inspector before applying for a grant. If the application is approved, the work must be carried out by a licensed contractor. The Insurance Department will then pay the grant money to the contractor, not the property owner.

Homeowners who earn less than 80 percent of the median household income for the county in which they live can apply for grants of up to $5,000. Properties must have an assessed or insured value of less than $300,000.

In Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties, those income limits are $45,120 per household. In Colleton County, the limit is $32,480.

Among the improvements the grant money can be used for are bracing roof trusses and studs; reinforcing roof and wall connections; and installing hurricane-rated doors.

The reforms are part of a far-reaching coastal insurance bill that took effect in June. Richardson sees them as key to easing the coastal property insurance crisis that began taking hold last summer.

Homeowners have experienced rising premiums and shrinking availability as more insurance companies reduce their exposure along the South Carolina coast. In response to the worsening insurance market, the bill put in place a basket of measures aimed at enticing more insurers to the state.

Those measures include tax deductions for the creation of hurricane savings accounts up to $250,000, and income-tax credits for the purchase of building supplies, such as storm shutters and other measures to make homes more resistant to hurricane damage.

Richardson said that if the program is successful, more insurance companies will do business in the state, which will help create competition and keep premiums down.

"We can't stop storms, but we can mitigate damages," Richardson said Friday.

Reach Peter Hull at 937-5594 or phull@postandcourier.com.