A legislative effort to attack rising property insurance costs in Colorado failed in the last days of the session.
The bill, which was supported by Gov. Jared Polis and Colorado Insurance Commissioner Michael Conway, would have tacked a 1% fee onto property insurance policies statewide, increasing the average premium by $32 per year. The administration believed the fees ultimately would have lowered skyrocketing homeowners insurance costs.
House Bill 1302 died Tuesday in a Senate committee hearing at which Democrats joined Republicans to defeat the measure.
The fees would have supported two state-funded programs — one to address hail damage, the other wildfire risk — that Polis and Conway believed would prevent more insurance companies from fleeing the state. More competition would help lower premiums, Conway said earlier during the legislative session. And they hoped that helping people fortify their roofs against hailstorms would have stabilized premiums across the state as insurance companies’ risks dropped.
“It’s disappointing to see Democrats join with Republicans to not take action to help Coloradans facing out-of-control home insurance costs and increase competition for Coloradans,” Eric Muryama, the governor’s spokesman, wrote in a statement. “Homeowners insurance is part of housing costs, and it’s quite simply too expensive in Colorado. We’ve seen insurance costs increase by nearly 60% over the last four years, and insurers write fewer policies because of the increasing impacts of climate change. … In broad daylight, the legislature failed to help save people money when they need it most.”
The bill received strong opposition from the insurance industry when it was introduced, but that resistance softened after intensive negotiations. Still, it wasn’t enough to convince legislators to charge people more money in an attempt to lower insurance costs.
Another insurance proposal — House Bill 1182 — was approved and is awaiting the governor’s signature.
That law would regulate how property insurance companies use computer models to predict risk and then use that information to set rates. Consumer advocates say those models inflate costs and do not take into consideration any mitigation work done by property owners or communities.
If the bill becomes law, insurance companies would be required to inform customers of their wildfire risk score and explain steps they could take to improve that score and potentially lower their costs.
Rates have jumped in the past five years because of increasingly severe weather and wildfires, which are growing more destructive because of the impact of climate change in the state. The issue became a priority after 2020 and 2021 when wildfires in Boulder, Grand and Larimer counties incinerated billions of dollars worth of property.
While wildfires grab attention, hail is even more destructive in Colorado, causing homeowner insurance rates to increase when hailstorms destroy roofs.
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