New data shows hail — not wildfire — is driving Colorado’s high insurance rates

Colorado is second in the nation for hail insurance claims, and new data shows just how much hail is impacting insurance premiums for homeowners.

The Colorado Division of Insurance calculated average premiums for 11 counties across the state based on data from 20 insurers representing 80% of the market. It found wildfire accounts for between 1% and 25% of premiums while hail accounts for 26% and 54% of premiums, even in areas that don’t see a lot of hail.

The Division of Insurance says insurers are spreading hail risk across the state but only targeting high risk areas when pricing wildfire risk.

Last year, state lawmakers considered a bill that would have assessed a fee on all homeowners policies statewide to fund a grant program for hail-fortified roofs. Coloradans could apply for money to help offset the cost of the roofs. The bill failed.

Lawmakers are now working on a new bill to help bring hail fortified roofs to scale in Colorado, but it’s unclear how they will fund it.

Carole Walker, Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association, says other states have used taxes from premiums but, in Colorado, those taxes go into the general fund, which is already strained, and fees or surcharges will only get passed on to policyholders.

“We all agree that a grant mitigation program for hail impact resistant roofs — get people to get those roofs on, help bring down premiums — but then how do we pay for those grants? That becomes the question that we can’t quite figure out.”

Gov. Jared Polis supported the bill that would have assessed a fee on policyholders but, he says, he’s open to other funding mechanisms too.

“It’s not an entire solution on its own — I’d love to see other pieces to it that can reduce homeowners insurance — but this piece of when somebody’s making the decision about what kind of roof they replace their roof with when it’s damaged? Over the next decade or two we’ve got to get to place — especially in the Front Range — where more people have hail resistant roofs and that will reduce rates for everybody,” Polis said.

According to Insurify, Colorado has the fourth most expensive homeowners’ insurance in the country with an average premium of $6,630. That’s an 11% increase over last year.

The Division of Insurance says hail fortified roofs could save Coloradans between $82 and $387 a year while wildfire mitigation would save between $3 and $25.

The governor’s office and the state’s Division of Insurance released the following data which shows the impact of current hail claims on insurance premiums in Colorado.