Colorado Governor Signs Law Aimed at Lowering Homeowners Insurance Costs

Colorado Gov. Jared Governor Polis signed a bill into law that proponents say will lower the price of homeowners insurance in Colorado,

Polis signed SB26-155, called Increase Access Homeowner’s Insurance Enterprise, designed to make it more affordable for residents to get hail proof roofs, help decrease premiums and increase market competition in high-wildfire areas. The bill is part of Polis’s efforts he says will save Coloradans $800 each year on homeowners insurance.

The bill, sponsored by Speaker Julie McCluskie and Representative Kyle Brown, and Senators Kyle Mullica and Janice Marchman, creates an enterprise governed by a seven-member board, including the commissioner of insurance or their designee; members with expertise in home hardening, risk mitigation, resilient roof systems, and insurance underwriting or actuarial analysis; and members representing the interests of insurance companies, consumers, and counties.

The enterprise will impose an annual fee of 0.5% starting in 2027 of the total premium collected by admitted insurers selling multiperil homeowner’s insurance policies in the state.

The fee will go to efforts including:

• Defraying the cost of retrofitting residential property by providing grants for the installation of resilient roof systems. At least 85% of the fee revenue must be used for grants to Colorado homeowners to retrofit residential property to reduce insurer losses due to hail and windstorms.
• Analyzing data on hail losses to identify areas of the state to target for installation of resilient roof systems;
• Setting standards for resilient roof systems and awarding workforce training grants for installing and certifying resilient roofs;
• Creating codes of conduct for roofing contractors to ensure roofs are properly and appropriately installed;
• Conducting or contracting with a third party to conduct a study to analyze insurance risk in high-risk wildfire areas of the state.

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Homeowners