Who knew these household underpinnings could actually save us money on our homeowners insurance premiums? Well, my new insurance agent, Wayne Cox (of Cox Insurance) did - for one.

While Wayne was doing a complimentary evaluation of our insurance policies, he asked whether we'd had a windstorm mitigation inspection done on the house. Like most homeowners in Florida, I'd never even heard of this. He's good like that, though - and I've spoken to several of his clients who also report that he's saved them a lot of money - just by asking good questions.

Like everyone who buys a house, we had a thorough home inspection when we bought - at the height of the market in 2005. The inspector went into the attic, checking every nook and cranny of the house so we'd be sure not to have any unpleasant surprises after signing on the dotted line. Pretty standard - you don't want to buy a house that's about to fall down. This is where most people end their home inspection experience.

After one very active hurricane season, one very slow season, and having just entered another season that's still up in the air, we found out about another kind of inspection we needed. This one's called a windstorm mitigation inspection. If you have one done, it's possible to shave hundreds - or even thousands of dollars off of your homeowners insurance premium.

We had Ken Raymond of South Florida Renovations come out to the house to crawl around in the attic for a while. (It cost $150 - it would take more than that to get me into a Florida attic in September!) He looked at the roof, measured the thickness of our plywood, the distance between the roofing nails, the length of those nails, checked our shutters, inspected all of the walls and windows, and wrote all kinds of mysterious codes on an official report for our insurance company.

Within weeks we heard back from the insurance company. The verdict: we'll save about $150 a year for the next five years, because the house is sound and well-built. Is it a wash? Well, yes - for the first year. But every year after that, we've got a nice break on the policy.

Our results were modest - but still helpful.

Other homeowners, however, have saved a LOT more on their insurance policies because of getting Ken to do a windstorm mitigation inspection for them.

Here are just two very happy homeowners:

Mimi and Dave Shackley of Port St. Lucie saved about $700 on their premium - for the next five years. Plus, they got a refund check for the current year of nearly $1,000.

Holly and Michael Galleher of Stuart saved a whopping $4,000 on their homeowners policy. They had been with their prior agent since 1986, but never heard about the savings their home was eligible until they called Wayne and Ken.

So, how do you know whether you'll save big with getting a windstorm mitigation inspection? Start with getting your policy evaluated. An honest insurance expert like Wayne Cox will tell you whether your coverage is right for your home. If he can help you save a significant percentage on your policy, he'll tell you so. If he can't, he'll tell you that, too. And while there's always someone out there who will promise to lower your premium drastically just to get your business (sometimes by raising your deductibles or decreasing your coverage), it's best to deal with someone who will give you the straight story.

You can reach Wayne Cox of Cox Insurance at (772)461-8882, and Ken Raymond of South Florida Renovations at (772) 344-1960.