The increasing risk of wildfires in Colorado is driving insurance carriers to raise premiums on homeowners’ policies — if they decide to insure them at all — and now the state’s insurance chief is suggesting a publicly funded pool of money be established to provide property insurance for those who can’t find it in the open market.
Colorado experienced massive, destructive wildfires in the past few years, including the Marshall fire, which caused an estimated $2 billion in property damage on Dec. 30, making it the most expensive wildfire in Colorado history.
The wildfire that destroyed more than 1,000 homes in Louisville, Superior and unincorporated Boulder County exposed multiple issues in the state’s insurance industry, including an estimation that nearly two-thirds of Marshall fire homeowners were underinsured.