How the NCIUA’s FORTIFIED Roof Grant Program Works in North Carolina: 10 Things to Know

North Carolina was one of the first states with a FORTIFIED Roof incentive program.

Launched in 2019 by the North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association (NCIUA), the “Strengthen Your Roof” program gives homeowners in coastal areas of the state – from the Outer Banks to Wilmington – a grant of up to $10,000 to strengthen their roof.

How does the Strengthen Your Roof program work? What is a FORTIFIED roof? Today, we’re highlighting some of the most important things you need to know about the program.

How It Works

The Strengthen Your Roof program rewards homeowners who improve their roofs to standards set by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS).

A few years ago, the IBHS created a set of roofing standards that go above and beyond ordinary building codes. They called these roofing standards FORTIFIED. A FORTIFIED Roof is more likely to withstand hurricanes, heavy winds, tornadoes, hail, and other severe weather.

The NCIUA partnered with NC State researchers to test the program and verify that it genuinely strengthened roofs. After tests were successful, the NCIUA decided to launch a pilot program.

Am I Eligible?

Homeowners living in coastal regions of North Carolina may be eligible for the NCIUA’s Strengthen Your Roof program.

The program initially applied to homeowners living in the Outer Banks. It has now expanded down the coast.

If you’re living in rating territories 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, or 160, you could qualify for a grant and receive an insurance discount.

Here’s how the NCIUA explains eligibility:

The Strengthen Your Coastal Roof program covers areas above the Intracoastal Waterway. These counties include Beaufort, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Hyde, Jones, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Tyrrell, and Washington.

Generally, homeowners living in coastal areas east of I-95 could qualify for the program. Specific requirements include:

• You are an NCIUA policyholder with homeowners, homeowners windstorm/hail, and/or dwelling windstorm/hail coverage
• Your property is located on the coast of North Carolina (in rating territories 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, or 160)

Check eligibility at StrengthenYourRoof.com here: https://strengthenyourroof.com/Home/Policyholders

How Does a FORTIFIED Roof Protect My Home?

The goal of a FORTIFIED Roof is to strengthen your roof against heavy winds and rain.

A FORTIFIED Roof is more likely to stay attached to your home and keep water out during a severe storm. It reduces the risk of losing your home – and it could save your life.

How Do Contractors Build a FORTIFIED Roof?

Contractors build or retrofit a FORTIFIED roof by meeting specific IBHS standards.

Those standards are specifically designed to strengthen a roof and include things like:

• Stronger edges of the roof to prevent wind uplift, reducing the chance of losing your roof in a heavy storm
• Ring-shank nails to double the holding strength of the roof
• Enhanced nailing patterns for increased durability
• Sealed roof deck to prevent water intrusion

How Does the NCIUA’s FORTIFIED Roof Grant Program Work?

The NCIUA launched a grant program to incentivize homeowners to improve roof strength.

The pilot program awards grants, via a lottery, to eligible homeowners across coastal regions of North Carolina.

Here’s how the program works:

1. You check eligibility and apply for the grant program online at StrengthenYourCoastalRoof.com
2. If selected by the program, you could receive a grant of $6,000 to $10,000 to install, retrofit, or upgrade your home’s roof to FORTIFIED standards.
3. An authorized contractor retrofits or installs your roof to FORTIFIED standards.

How Much Does a FORTIFIED Roof Cost?

Generally, it costs 10% to 20% more to install a FORTIFIED Roof compared to an ordinary roof.

According to a report from the State of Louisiana published in 2025, the average FORTIFIED Roof costs $16,229 for a new installation.

That report also found homeowners saved around $1,250 per year on insurance premiums. Plus, it found roughly 1 in 5 newly-installed roofs were FORTIFIED roofs.

The FORTIFIED Roof program is becoming increasingly popular across coastal areas of the Southeastern United States, from Louisiana to North Carolina. Costs vary widely across the area.

How Much Can I Save?

According to the NCIUA, you can save up to $700 per year for a FORTIFIED Roof.

Because of these insurance savings, some homeowners install a FORTIFIED Roof even without the NCIUA grant. The roof often pays for itself within a few years because of these discount savings (even if you’re not affected by a major storm).

The greater your level of protection, the more you can save. There’s a standard FORTIFIED Roof, for example, along with a Silver FORTIFIED Roof with added protection.

What’s the Catch?

There’s no real “catch” to the program. It’s in North Carolina’s best interest to limit damage during a hurricane, and encouraging stronger roofs is a big part of that.

As the insurer of last resort in North Carolina, the North Carolina Insurance Underwriting Association is at heavy risk during each storm. The organization consists of a pool of insurers covering homes in high-risk coastal areas. A single hurricane could cause billions of dollars’ worth of damage. The NCIUA wants to limit future damage by incentivizing better home strength today.

It’s important to remember the grant program is a lottery; it’s not free money available to everyone. If you qualify and win the lottery, however, you receive a steep discount on a significantly stronger roof.

Ask Your Insurer About a FORTIFIED Roof Endorsement

Some insurers in North Carolina now offer a FORTIFIED Roof endorsement.

If you’re not able to upgrade your roof before the next storm arrives, you can add a FORTIFIED Roof endorsement to your policy. If a storm damages your roof and causes a total loss, this endorsement covers the extra cost of upgrading your home to a FORTIFIED Roof.

What’s the Point of the Program?

North Carolina Department of Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey summed up the program best with:

With just a little extra quality and a little extra effort, this can go a long way toward making our whole coastline more resilient.

By making North Carolina’s roofs stronger today, we make the state more resilient to disasters.

Natural disasters impact everyone in the state. If a hurricane causes billions of dollars of losses along the coast, then it can cause everyone’s insurance premiums to rise.

Financial benefits aside, there are also lives at risk. Strengthening roofs today can save lives tomorrow.

To learn more about North Carolina’s Strengthen Your Roof program and how you could get up to $10,000 towards the installation of a new or retrofitted roof, visit https://strengthenyourroof.com/Home/Policyholders.

Stephanie Corona

Stephanie is a property insurance claim expert with over 20 years of experience working as an insurance adjuster, expert witness, appraiser and umpire. She is passionate about sharing her expertise, knowledge, tips and training to help both property owners and Public Adjusters in their pursuit of effectively managing claims and recovering the claim settlement they deserve after a loss.