Insurance asking for a tie-down inspection? What Florida mobile home owners need to know (2026)

If your insurance carrier just asked for proof of tie-downs, or declined to renew without it, you're seeing Florida's insurance market tightening in real time. Carriers have learned that anchoring is the difference between a claim and a catastrophe, and they increasingly want documentation before they'll write or keep a mobile home policy. Here's what that means practically.

What the inspection actually checks

• Anchor count and spacing against Florida Rule 15C-1 for your home's size and wind zone.
• Strap condition: rust, fraying, broken or missing straps, and proper tension.
• Anchor integrity: heads above grade, not pulled, set in stable soil.
• Longitudinal vs frame ties, older homes often have only one type when current standards expect both.
• Pier and blocking condition while the crew is under the home anyway.

Got a letter asking for stabilizers or tie-down repairs?

Two kinds of letters show up: a failed county inspection after an install, and an insurance letter asking for proof that the tie-downs are right. Either way, the fix is the same kind of work.

• Longitudinal stabilizing devices keep the wind from pushing the home along its length. Florida has required them on new and used home installations since 1994, on top of the side anchors, so older installs often do not have them.
• A failed county inspection has to be corrected by a Florida-licensed mobile home installer, and then the county inspects again.
• Florida lets insurers give a discount of up to 10% of the yearly premium when you show a current tie-down inspection that certifies the tie-downs are installed right and in good condition.
• Send us a photo of the letter. It usually lists exactly what the inspector or the insurer wants, and we quote that work in writing.

What drives the cost of fixing what they find

Light deficiencies, like re-tensioning straps or replacing a handful, are a small job. A fuller retrofit, adding anchors and straps to bring an older home toward current standards, depends on home size, number of sections, wind zone, and soil, and we price it in writing after inspecting the home. Either way it's almost always cheaper than one year of the premium increase (or non-renewal) that an uninsurable anchoring report brings.

The free option almost nobody knows: homes installed in 1999 or earlier

Florida's Hurricane Loss Mitigation Program funds free tie-down retrofits for qualifying mobile homes installed in 1999 or earlier, run through Gulf Coast State College's Mobile Home Tie-Down Program. If your home qualifies, the state pays for the retrofit work itself. Parks and associations can apply, and so can owners outside a park, but there is a waiting list that can take months or longer, so if your insurer needs proof soon, plan for both. We can check whether your home fits the program's criteria and handle the parts the program doesn't cover (and the documentation your insurer wants either way).