HOMEOWNER INSURANCE INFO
The Homeowner Insurance market is experiencing significant disruption and is now a Seller’s Market. Our goal here is to provide updates as often as we can so you can better manage risk and expectations, and put your home in the best light. It is important for you to present yourself as a risk insurance companies want to accept.
1. Firewise™️ Community: Our efforts to remain a certified Firewise™️ Community important because it lets fire fighters know our community is safer to enter and defend from wildfire and it may help you obtain and maintain Homeowner Insurance.
a. Firewise™️Certification does not say we are low risk. It says that we are meeting standards to mitigate and manage our risk. Firewise™️ certification shows that our homeowners are making annual efforts to mitigate risk as individual homeowners and as a community. The Firewise™️program gives us tools and the Firewise™️certification shows that we are using these tools to lower our risk. Please go to our Firewise™️ page and look through the resources and videos we have posted.
b. We must recertify with Firewise™️ every year and we need EVERYONE to participate. There are many of us that will help you where we can as it is a benefit to the entire community.
2. Wildfire Ready Home Website and Checklist. This checklist is a tool created by the insurance industry. California and Oregon now offer Wildfire Ready Home Certification programs that can be used to obtain and maintain homeowner insurance. While the certification is not yet available in Colorado, you can use this outline to present to an insurance company your home is an insurable risk.
3. Summit Fire and EMS provide free Wildfire Home Mitigation Inspections. You may also use their assessment to show insurance companies your home is an insurable risk. A link to Summit Fire & EMS Mitigation is provided also at the right.
4. Consider having your home inspected by and independent insurance inspector. Get a written report. Your insurance company may also have a list of approved inspectors, so it may be better to ask them before engaging an inspector yourself.
5. Maintain a written and photographic log of your mitigation work year over year. Your report will help the insurance company recognize your understanding mitigation is not a ‘one and done’ process!
6. Colorado recently established an insurance Fair Plan Program. This is a market of last resort for those that cannot find insurance. It is run by the state and was established through assessments to the Standard Market based on their writings in the state. United Policyholders, a non-profit organization that provides resources to consumers recently published an article on the Fair Plan. While well written and important to read, you need to know they only provide Property Coverage for very limited causes of loss – basically fire for the structure.
7. Colorado also recently passed a Transparency Act for insurance companies. We have a link to the Act and will discuss further as it becomes into effect next year.
Please take time to review these documents and website link on this page.
Come back to this page for more resources! We plan to provide links to other resources/companies that may be helpful for wildfire protection and mitigation.
