Home Insurance in the Mountains
You’ve heard the rumors. And unfortunately they are true. Getting your home insured in the mountains, a place where wild fires are a high risk, can be difficult. But not impossible! As insurance is required in home-ownership, it’s essential. Follow these steps to ensure your house is property insured.
When buying a home or moving
When moving to, or within, the mountains, start with your current home insurance agent to determine if the house you are wanting to buy is insurable.
Connect with the seller’s agent to determine what insurance is currently insuring the home.
Connect with the local fire department to see if you can obtain a free home wildfire risk assessment by entering your address and contacting your local fire authorities. They will provide a report that may be helpful to provide to your home insurance provider.
Based on your assessment, or the priorities of your insurance provider, you may need to do fire mitigation on your property either on your own (with guidance from local fire authorities or your insurance company) or by hiring a fire mitigation company such as Clear Creek Fire Mitigation.
Insurance for your home should be tailored to your specific property and area: location, elevation, population density, proximity to water, surrounding traffic, flood risk, etc.
Basic plans often don’t account for wildfires, risk of snow, ice and sleet, and risk of landslides, so ask your agent to ensure you are getting the right coverage.
If your property struggles to be insured by standard providers (StateFarm and the like) your agent or broker can go through “secondary markets” to find insurance companies that may insure high-risk homes or areas. This is what I had to do at first in order to get insurance. It is often “bare-bones” coverage until you can find a better solution long-term.
As a rule of thumb, the yearly cost of insurance in the mountains is often 1% of the purchase price. So if it’s a $1m house you may pay $10k a year in insurance hopefully we will find a lower cost but it’s a good number to keep in mind.
Colorado FAIR Act
Expected to start March 2025, the Colorado Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) Plan is a program designed to provide property insurance coverage for homeowners and businesses when coverage is unavailable through traditional means or declined by providers based on fire risk, hail risk, previous claims, age or condition.
When standard insurance isn’t available, this is the last resort. Unfortunately, this means it’s likely the most expensive option. But, at least there IS an option.
To qualify, you must own a home in a high-risk area, have proof of rejection from three standard insurance companies, and work with an agent to apply.
On top of this coverage being more expensive, it also is limited to $750k coverage (despite how much your house is worth), only covers essential protections with limited extended coverages, and only cover Actual Cash Value (ACV) and not replacement cost.
Insurance Brokers
If you are struggling to find insurance on a property in the mountains, I recommend contacting an insurance broker who can shop your home around to various providers. Here is someone I use and trust:
Legacy Insurance Partners
Kristen Delacerda
720-295-3884
KDelacerda@InsuredByLIP.com
TheLegacyInsurancePartners.com
Roofing
If needing help with evaluating, fixing or replacing a roof, I recommend:
BONHARDT Roof & Trade Co
Andrew LaBonte, owner
www.bonhardtroofs.com
C: (804) 814-5167
O: (720) 419-4369
