Colorado lawmaker to introduce bills aimed at addressing availability, affordability of homeowners insurance

The Los Angeles fires are expected to exacerbate what was already an insurance crisis in California, where thousands of policies have been canceled due to wildfire risk, and some fear Colorado could be next.

Bạn đang xem: Colorado lawmaker to introduce bills aimed at addressing availability, affordability of homeowners insurance

According to the Colorado Division of Insurance, just five carriers now insure 65% of the state, and their losses here are greater than in all but four other states. Meanwhile, the average premium in Colorado has jumped 52% over the last three years.

Maybe no one has done more to help provide relief than state Rep. Kyle Brown (Col-D), who represents Marshall Fire survivors in Louisville and Boulder County, many of whom were underinsured. 

Xem thêm : Soaring Insurance Rates Show Climate Change Is a Pocketbook Issue  

“We are still recovering,” Brown told CBS News Colorado. “Many folks have had to leave. We have lost long-term members of our community because they have not been able to make the finances work.” 

Brown has carried bills year after year to address the availability and affordability of insurance in a state that has the third-highest risk of wildfire and second highest hail claims in the country.

“Insurance companies are paying out, in many, cases $1.42 for every dollar they take in, in premiums,” Brown said. “That’s unsustainable. 

Brown is bringing forward a bill this year that would help homeowners afford hail-proof roofs. He says the money would come from fees paid by insurers.

“This is a small amount of investment that will pay a significant amount of dividends long-term,” Brown said. 

Brown also plans to change how insurers set premiums to make sure they accurately reflect risk. 

“We as a state should expect our insurance companies to incorporate the mitigation efforts that we are doing into their modeling as they’re pricing their products,” Brown said. 

Xem thêm : LA fires could worsen California’s stressed insurance market

The state congressman says the Colorado Division of Insurance (DOI) would also have to approve rates before an insurer sells in Colorado, and profits would be limited. But he says the state would also help insurers when disasters hit by using the proceeds from catastrophe bonds to offset the costs.

“These are the types of programs that we hope, when the worst happens, we have to balance the regulations that we put in place, so that we remain a competitive market for insurance companies, while protecting consumers.” 

Brown, who worked at the Division of Insurance before becoming a lawmaker -, says insurance companies have their own insurance to help cover losses. The price of that has skyrocketed, he says, in recent years. He says the catastrophe bonds are aimed at bringing down that cost and, in turn, our premiums.