A man walks by burned homes in the Coal Creek Ranch subdivision in the aftermath of the Marshall Fire on December 31, 2021 in Louisville, Colorado. The fast moving fire, which destroyed roughly 1000 homes and businesses, was stoked by extremely dry drought conditions and fierce winds, with gusts topping 100 mph, along the foothills. high interest rates and soaring property taxes. You can add surging home insurance rates to the pile of problems eroding the landscape of affordable housing options.
A convergence of factors is driving the run-up in costs, Walker said. Higher inflation is one of those. “You have everything that insurance pays for going up in cost.” “The international impact of climate change, of increasing climate disasters, the severity of those disasters is causing reinsurers to consider their risk, reduce their exposure or increase their premiums,” said Vince Plymell, spokesman for the insurance division.
State officials don’t have a lot of insight into the modeling used by companies to decide which areas are too risky to insure, Lapham said. “We’re focused on getting a better understanding and creating transparency, not just for us but also for policy holders.” “I thought, ‘Well, no big deal. I’ll just move to another carrier,'” Watts said. “I had no idea how bad it had gotten just in the last year or two.”
Escalating home insurance premiums and companies scaling back coverage are creating angst in the real estate industry. Brian Tanner, vice president of public policy for the Colorado Association of Realtors, said agents are seeing properties lose coverage or unable to find insurance. “Everybody I talk to is talking about the property insurance issue,” said Sarah Thorsteinson, CEO of the Altitude Realtors association, which includes Summit and Routt counties.
“We’ve seen increases of 100% or more for HOA policies,” said Lapham with the state insurance division. The Hiland Hills Townhomes HOA was able to line up a new insurer in 2023, but had to budget for a 30% increase in premiums. Dues went up from $336 a month to $460 per unit. A letter from the HOA board that Christianson shared with The Denver Post said the previous insurance carrier got out of the Colorado market. Several companies declined to offer bids on a new policy because of the height and age of the three buildings in the complex and the fire suppression system.“I’ve never filed a claim. I’ve been with same insurance company for five years,” Christianson said. “This is becoming unsustainable.
McDaniel and other insurance agents have met with fire agencies to learn more about reducing wildfire risks and programs like, a national program overseen by the state forest service in Colorado. A goal is to lower homeowners’ premiums by making changes.
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