The homeowners forms and their coverages (A through F, special limits, additional coverages, exclusions) are in the national guide, which is based on ISO HO 00 03 05 11. Alabama's homeowners questions focus on windstorm: the FORTIFIED mitigation discount law, the Strengthen Alabama Homes grant program, and the Alabama Insurance Underwriting Association (AIUA) for coastal property. Policyholder rights after a loss are also tested.

FORTIFIED discounts (Ala. Code 27-31D)

• Insurers must give a premium discount or rate reduction on insurable property retrofitted to the IBHS FORTIFIED Home standard, or to other approved mitigation (27-31D-2).
• Conformity is certified only after an inspection by an IBHS certified inspector. The homeowner presents the certificate to the insurer.
• The discount applies only to policies that provide wind coverage. It reduces the wind portion of the premium, or the total premium if wind isn't rated separately.
• A newly built home qualifies if it is certified to the 2006 International Residential Code hurricane requirements or to FORTIFIED standards (27-31D-1).
• "Insurable property" means single-family residential, commercial, and qualifying modular homes. Most manufactured and mobile homes are excluded (27-31D-3).
• Roof endorsement. Homeowners insurers must offer an endorsement, at new business and first renewal, that upgrades an eligible home's roof to a FORTIFIED standard when a covered loss requires replacing the roof (27-31D-2.1).

Strengthen Alabama Homes (Ala. Code 27-31E)

• The program is run by the Alabama Department of Insurance (27-31E-2). It awards grants to retrofit homes against hurricanes, tornadoes, and other catastrophic windstorms.
• The home must have been granted a homestead exemption (27-31E-3).
• As of 2026, a grant pays the cost of a FORTIFIED Roof retrofit up to $10,000, paid directly to the contractor after the FORTIFIED certificate is issued.
• Projects need local permits, follow the FORTIFIED for Existing Homes program, and are subject to random reinspection.
• Grants are not an entitlement. They depend on available funding.

Coastal property: AIUA (the Beach Area)

• The Alabama Insurance Underwriting Association is a nonprofit joint underwriting association, organized in 1970. It provides property coverage in the Beach Area when the voluntary market won't (Ala. Code 27-1-24).
• The Beach Area is the gulf front, beach, and seacoast areas of Baldwin and Mobile Counties.
• Every insurer writing direct fire and extended coverage in Alabama must be a member as a condition of its authority.
• Insurers that take full coverage, including wind, on homes the AIUA insures for wind can earn a premium tax credit of 20% or 35% depending on zone (27-1-24.1).
• Homeowners in an AIUA zone may deduct FORTIFIED retrofit costs from state taxable income, up to the lesser of 50% of the cost or $3,000 (40-18-15.4).

Flood

Standard homeowners policies exclude flood. Flood coverage comes from the National Flood Insurance Program or private flood insurers. Under the NFIP:

• A new policy generally has a 30-day waiting period (44 CFR 61.11).
• Regular program limits for a one-to-four family home are $250,000 building and $100,000 contents (44 CFR 61.6).
• A "flood" requires inundation of two or more acres of normally dry land, or of two or more properties.

Policyholder rights after a loss

Alabama's Policyholders Bill of Rights (27-22-42) gives property policyholders the right to:

• choose their own licensed contractor to repair or rebuild
• reject a settlement offer
• get written notice of contract language changes at renewal
• complain to the Department and have the complaint reviewed

Common exam traps

• FORTIFIED discounts apply only to policies with wind coverage, and need an IBHS-certified inspection.
• Most manufactured and mobile homes are excluded from the FORTIFIED law.
• Strengthen Alabama Homes requires a homestead exemption, pays up to $10,000 in 2026, and is not an entitlement.
• The AIUA serves Baldwin and Mobile counties. Membership is required of insurers writing fire and extended coverage.
• The policyholder, not the insurer, picks the contractor.