A FORTIFIED™ roof in Mississippi can get up to $10,000 from the state’s Strengthen Mississippi Homes grant, and your insurer may cut your wind premium for it. Whether you can apply today, and how big the discount is, depends on your county.
Sources: Mississippi Insurance Department; IBHS; Sun Herald reporting. Checked September 2026.
Most homeowners can’t yet. The first phase is limited to wind pool customers, and the statewide money is waiting on a fix from the Legislature. Four questions tell you where you stand.
If you land on “not yet”, you haven’t lost anything. Join the round alert list and we’ll tell you the day your group opens.
You can apply now, online. Places are limited and picked by lottery. Read how the application works and who pays what.
Built from the Mississippi Insurance Department’s eligibility rules and WLOX reporting, June 2026.
Here is the part most guides skip. Mississippi law only requires insurers to offer a discount for hurricane-mitigation retrofits on homes in five coastal counties. Everywhere else, a discount is up to your insurer, and each company sets its own amount.
| Where you live | Grant access | Insurance discount |
|---|---|---|
| Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Stone, Pearl RiverWind pool area | Open now if your wind cover is with the wind pool and you’ve held it 3+ years. Everyone else from the statewide phase. | Private insurers must offer one (Miss. Code § 83-75-3). Wind pool: 20% Roof, 25% Silver, 30% Gold. |
| GeorgeWind pool area | Same as above | Wind pool credits apply. For private insurers it’s voluntary: George isn’t on the statute’s list. |
| Rest of Mississippi | Statewide phase, expected 2027 | Voluntary. Ask your insurer before you build. |
Sources: Miss. Code § 83-75-3; IBHS on MWUA credits; Mississippi Insurance Department. Checked September 2026.
See which insurers offer a FORTIFIED discount in Mississippi
From the street it looks like any new roof. The difference is underneath, in the three places hurricanes attack first.
Sealed deck. Tape or a sealed underlayment covers the seams between the plywood sheets. If shingles blow off, rain can’t pour into your attic.
Ring-shank nails, closer together. Their ridges grip the wood and hold the deck down far better than the smooth nails most roofs use.
Stronger edges. Drip edge and shingles are locked down at the eaves and gables, where wind lifts a roof first.
An independent evaluator photographs each stage before it’s covered. No photos, no certificate, no discount.
The Sun Herald followed a Coast homeowner who fortified her roof. Her insurer refunded $327 part-way through the policy year, and she expected to save about $600 a year at renewal.
The same reporting put the extra cost of FORTIFIED over a standard re-roof at $1,000 to $3,000. If you’re replacing your roof anyway and pay that difference yourself, a saving like hers pays it back in roughly 2 to 5 years. With the grant, the upgrade can cost you nothing extra.
Figures from Sun Herald reporting, accessed September 2026. Your saving depends on your insurer, premium and county.
Hurricane season runs 1 June to 30 November. After a storm, good roofers get booked up for months with insurance jobs, and the door-knockers arrive. The calm months are when you get the best choice of certified roofer.
Best time to get quotes and plan Hurricane season
The programme runs on its own clock too. Phase one opened on the Coast from 1 July 2026. Statewide rounds need the Legislature to fix a funding error first, expected early in the 2027 session. Track the programme timeline.
I’ve always been an advocate of mitigation. I want to fix stuff so I don’t have as much damage.
A South Mississippi homeowner, quoted in the Sun HeraldWe’re an independent guide. We are not the Mississippi Insurance Department, and we can’t apply for the grant for you. Use the official channels for that.
What we do: explain the rules in plain English, alert you when rounds open, and connect you with one FORTIFIED-certified roofer for a quote if you ask.
Not yet. Phase one is for wind pool (MWUA) policyholders with 3 or more consecutive policy years. The programme plans to open to all homeowners from 1 January 2027, if the Legislature fixes the funding error.
Up to $10,000 per home, paid directly to the authorised roofer after the roof is certified FORTIFIED. You pay anything above that.
Insurers must offer one on homes in Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Stone and Pearl River counties. Elsewhere it’s voluntary. Wind pool policyholders get 20% off wind premium for a FORTIFIED Roof.
Sun Herald reporting put the extra cost at about $1,000 to $3,000 over a standard re-roof. The full price depends on your roof’s size, pitch and deck condition.
For a grant job, you collect three bids from contractors on the programme’s approved list and pick one. Without a grant, any FORTIFIED-certified roofer can do it.