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A 0.5% fee would be imposed under House Bill 1302 on every home insurance policy in Colorado, unless a house meets certain wildfire mitigation standards
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House Bill 1182 would also require insurers to give customers an opportunity to appeal assessments of a property’s wildfire risk, which can lead to increased costs and nonrenewals
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‘Most comprehensive’ look at homeowners’ insurance finds rising prices, non-renewals across the WestAn obscure federal agency recently released what it calls the “most comprehensive data on homeowners insurance in history.” And the picture it paints for the Mountain West is a concerning one.
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Wildfires, hailstorms, and other catastrophic events have caused billions of dollars in damage in Colorado. They’re also amping up worries that insurance companies might pull out of high-risk areas, leaving homeowners high and dry, without coverage. A state lawmaker discusses a few ideas to prevent that from happening, today on In The NoCo.
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More than 30 states have Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) plans, which are state-run programs backed by private insurers that offer coverage for high-risk properties.
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Federal law says Native Americans aren’t liable for medical bills the Indian Health Service promises to pay. Some are billed anyway as a result of backlogs or mistakes from the agency, financial middlemen, or health systems.
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Hail damage, wildfires, and weather are only partly to blame, says an industry trade group. There’s also “social inflation.”
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These state-regulated plans are typically more expensive and offer less coverage compared to private insurance. Colorado’s is the first new Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) plan created in the U.S. in decades.
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Home insurance is becoming a more uncertain market, in large part due to climate-fueled disasters like wildfires. Some states in the West are taking steps to address the situation, like Oregon where a 2023 law requires insurers to account for home-hardening measures in their underwriting models. In California, they’re trying to take it a step further.
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Colorado, Texas and Hawaii have experienced some of the nation’s most catastrophic and tragic wildfires in recent years. Officials from all three states were in Boise this week to discuss how wildfire destabilizes home insurance markets.