Insurance

Homeowners insurance is getting more expensive and harder to keep. Lawmakers in our region introduced more than a dozen policy proposals in response this year.

In recent months, the U.S. Senate Budget Committee and the Federal Insurance Office have each released detailed data on insurance premiums, non-renewals and other key metrics. The advocacy groups Public Citizen and The Revolving Door Project brought that data to life with interactive maps.

House Bill 1302 would have imposed a 1% fee on every policy for grants to hail-proof roofs and an effort to limit insurers' risk. But homeowners would have borne the cost, which is why the measure died.

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

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

An 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.

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.

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.

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.

Hail damage, wildfires, and weather are only partly to blame, says an industry trade group. There’s also “social inflation.”