The My Safe Florida Home program restarted on Monday with new money, new rules and a few hiccups online.
"Everybody trying to get on, it got overloaded," said Cynthia Jones of Fort Pierce.
Jones said she eventually did get through to fill out an application for an initial inspection after about an hour.
"It's kind of hard and like I said you get frustrated, and I got frustrated because I was thinking about last year of not getting in at all."
For the first two weeks, MSFH is accepting applications from low-income seniors.
Applications will be sorted by age and income, with Group 1 being those 60 and older and with household income at or below 80% of the median income for the county where they live. Born before July 1, 1965.
Group 2, according to the MSFH website, is for a "low-income" person whose total household income is at or below 80% of the median income for their county of residence.
Group 3 is for a "moderate-income" person whose total household income is below 120% of the median income for their county of residence. This is for people born before July 1, 1965.
Group 4 is "moderate-income" homeowners of any age, described as someone whose total household income is below 120% of the median income for their county of residence.
Group 5 from last year with no age or income limits no longer exists under a rule change.
Real Estate News
This rule can block some My Safe Florida Home applicants
The program has $280 million in new funding to support $10,000 grants for storm-related improvement for homes.
"We just encourage folks to be patient. If phone lines are busy, try the support center that's online," says MSFH Director Steven Fielder. "Put in your ticket type in your question, so we tried to create additional avenues for people to get answers besides just waiting on hold."
Share your thoughts about My Safe Florida Home here.
Matt Sczesny is determined every day to help you find solutions in Florida's coverage collapse. If you have a question or comment on homeowners insurance, you can reach out to him any time.
