TAMPA, Fla. — Jack Kelly has lived in his home in South Tampa since 1987.
His story starts when his insurance company said he needed to replace his then 16-year-old roof to be able to be insured.
“Sign up,” he said. “It doesn’t cost you anything.”
He later applied to the My Safe Florida Home program, and an inspector came out to his home, telling him he wouldn’t qualify for roof replacement or new hurricane windows, but that the program would cover new hurricane shutters and an extra nail into his rafter brace.
“Once you get approved and pick out one of the things the inspector said is okay, that’s when it gets hard and you better have help,” said Kelly.
On top of everything, Kelly said the process itself is long, frustrating, and confusing.
“The code inspectors from the city had to come and see it was code, and then they don’t give you any paperwork. They only show that the permit is closed because the contractor did the permit, so he gets that it’s closed, but I need that document to upload to My Safe Florida, so now I have to beg them for the permit closed from the code inspector,” said Kelly. “And sometimes impossible. The one thing that I had to do on one of the final steps, you had to click on this ‘click here’ button, but it wouldn’t click.”
Kelly reached out to ABC Action News about his experience and with concerns over how some people might not be able to navigate it easily.
“Make sure you have a computer and computer knowledge or help,” said Kelly. “Make sure you have a phone to take pictures or help because you’re going to need both of them.”
The Communications Director for CFO Jimmy Patronis said in an email that the program has been very successful, assisting homeowners with more than 99,000 home inspections and more than $383 million in grant funding obligated to harden their homes against storms. They also added that the average insurance premium discount reported by homeowners who participated in the program was around $1,000.
Officials said they’d be happy to have someone from the My Safe Florida Home team reach out to consumers who’ve run into complications directly to assist.
In the end, Kelly said My Safe Florida is a good program but difficult to navigate.
“I finally got through, only had a year to complete. I got through,” said Kelly. “The year was done in November. They gave me the check on October 31st. The whole process took a year.”
The program has a FAQ page that can be a useful tool and resource for some questions.