Colorado Wildfire Insurance – How To Protect Yourself

As a homeowner, you’re unlikely to ever face a loss due to fire. But if you do, you can, unfortunately, bet that it’s going to be on the expensive side. In The Centennial State, wildfires are a growing threat, and the need for Colorado wildfire insurance continues to grow.

Even small fires can cause a substantial amount of damage. Furthermore, fires can also lead to other issues such as smoke damage. But such issues typically afflict homeowners dealing with smaller home fires. Wildfires can become unmanageable quickly and consume your home, personal belongings, and vehicle completely.

Protecting yourself is important when it comes to any peril. A wildfire can take away everything you’ve worked for wrecking your finances and your peace of mind. Learn more about wildfire insurance in Colorado, how to save money, and what you can do to protect your personal property.

 

Colorado Wildfire Insurance Doesn’t Exist

There is a lot of interest in Colorado wildfire insurance and for good reason. The state is home to 319,799 homes at risk from extreme wildfires. This represents the fourth most in the country. However, if you’re looking for specific insurance coverage to protect you from such losses, you’ll find that they aren’t available.

This is because wildfire insurance in Colorado is often mistaken for home insurance. Your homeowners insurance offers protection against fire damage, which includes Colorado wildfires, but a specific coverage option for the peril doesn’t exist in that sense.

However, while you can’t get purely wildfire insurance in Colorado, the alternative is much better. Though highly destructive, the right homeowners coverage is going to protect you against much more than a singular threat.

 

Home Insurance Protects You Against More Than Wildfires

Colorado fires are more than enough reason to purchase home insurance, yet your coverage offers many additional protections that help you mitigate risk and protect your finances. Even though most standard homeowners insurance policies, HO-3 policies, offer similar protection, it’s important to understand how you are covered, as it still can vary depending on your carrier.

Home insurance can consist of many different coverages. Each of these coverages can protect you but in different ways. For example, Coverage A is at the core of your protection and can help restore losses to your home’s structure. However, Coverage E is the protection you’ll likely look to for issues concerning personal liability. Such as an injury from a visitor.

Not everything is covered. There are plenty of threats that could damage your home that needs additional coverage. A common example would be flood damage. But overall, the right homeowners insurance coverage is going to be able to cover a wide range of perils, all while protecting you in multiple ways.

This includes your personal property, which also receives coverage in the same manner as your home. There are policy limits you’ll need to be aware of, as is the case for all coverages, but you’re helping cover not only your home but many personal belongings from the risk of wildfire damage, among other types of damage including wind or hail damage and even theft.

 

Rising Wildfire Risks Is Costing Colorado Homeowners More

When it comes down to it, wildfire asset protection in Colorado is imperative and the rising costs of repairing homes along with increased wildfire risks mean higher premiums for your home insurance coverage. Over 3 million Coloradans, more than half of the state’s population, live within the wildland-urban interface (WUI).

The WUI is a place in which places susceptible to wildfires due to Colorado’s natural terrain, now have urbanized features as well. As progress continues and populations grow, people need places to live, build their businesses, and increase infrastructure. Balancing the WUI is a delicate game.

But risks persist as they do for any state, region, or area. You’ll still find plenty of potential for destructive wildfires, highlighting the need for education by homeowners, continued efforts to mitigate risks, and property coverage to help protect against worst-case scenarios.

However, this becomes more complex because of rising costs. Homeowners are already facing a tighter budget and home insurance rising because of similar economic complications only compounds these efforts. But there are options available that keep costs low and your home covered:

• Be sure to shop around and compare your coverage. This is important both when initially buying home insurance as well as an important step to take every year, at least once.
• Purchasing reasonable equipment that helps mitigate and prevent fire damage is also important. While wildfires present a much more unique challenge than traditional house fires, safety equipment can provide discounts for your home insurance policy depending on your carrier.
• Stay alert, do your part, and continue to remain educated on the risks of wildfires in your area, while practicing the appropriate safety measures.

 

Colorado Fires Can Affect More Than Your Home

If you’re looking into Colorado wildfire insurance, it’s important to remember that there is more at risk than just your home. Wildfires can be swift and depending on the situation, the risk to your vehicle can persist.

Auto insurance in Colorado is mandatory but the coverage that is mandated by state law revolves around your own liability. Both property damage and bodily injury are covered in the aftermath of an accident, but your coverage protects the other party, not you.

Furthermore, such protections occur after a wreck. When dealing with wildfire damage, the loss isn’t a result of an accident, but rather because of an act of nature. These losses are covered by comprehensive policies.

Similar to the way wildfire damage is covered by comprehensive coverage, so too are other damaging weather events. This means whether you are facing damage from a wildfire or flood or hail storm, you can restore your vehicle with affordable coverage all year-round.

As threats continue to grow from unpredictable weather patterns and growing urban development, having the right coverages in place is key. Known as full coverage, you can combine liability, comprehensive, and collision coverage, which helps restore your vehicle after an accident, all together. This provides a more affordable way to receive a comprehensive form of protection.

 

Colorado Springs Wildfire Insurance

While there are many cities filled with homes at risk of wildfires, those in Colorado Springs have extra considerations. The two top costly wildfires in the history of the state have occurred in Little London topping more than $420 million and $469 million respectively.

Every area has its own natural disasters to contend with, but the rising temperatures, traditional conditions, wooded terrain, and proximity of homes in the region make Colorado Springs a prime candidate for destructive wildfire events.

It’s easy to brush things off and believe they will never happen to you until they do. The chances are, if you’re a homeowner, you already have home insurance coverage. But if you don’t have the right amount of coverage, you may be left to rebuild from the ashes without enough protection.

Reviewing your coverage each year is important and helps you stay insured with the right level of coverage, as well as keeping your costs as low as possible. Especially with economic factors affecting construction, it’s important to maintain enough coverage to rebuild your home.

A common mistake that homeowners fall into is having enough coverage to match what they paid for the home. But as the cost of labor and materials grow, you’ll need to make sure that your coverage is adequate enough to rebuild based on current costs.

For example, if you purchase a home for $320,000 five years ago but rebuilding the same home in Colorado Springs would cost $385,000 and you don’t have enough coverage, following a wildfire, or any other severe peril, you’d need to make up the difference out of pocket following a major loss.

Working with a licensed home insurance agent can help you identify your risks, make a personalized plan, and enroll in coverage that not only keeps you protected, but doesn’t overcharge you for staying covered.

 

How To Save On “Colorado Wildfire Insurance”

There are no two ways about it, it cost more to insure your home in Colorado. Although there are several reasons why, yes, the rising threats of wildfire damage are one major factor in the elevated premiums you’ll pay. But the alternative is far worse.

Forgoing coverage puts your home, belongings, and finances at risk. Furthermore, how you enroll in coverage matters because without assessing your needs and comparing carriers, you can be left paying too much, not receiving the right level of coverage, or both.

The best way to save money is to protect yourself with the right level of coverage at the lowest price possible. Finding such coverage comes from comparing and shopping among multiple top-rated companies to find which brand offers the lowest premium, best discounts, and an appropriate amount of protection.

At Freedom Insurance Group, we help homeowners find the right coverage and save in the process. This is because we’ve partnered with several top-rated carriers and compared your coverage needs among these companies to identify the best option for you.

Not only are we looking at your coverages, but we also can compare your policies among the different discounts available from different brands. We can also help you insure your vehicle, bundle the coverage, and save even more.

To learn more about Colorado wildfire insurance protection for your home, auto, and personal belongings, give us a call to speak to our team of licensed experts. You can also get a homeowners insurance quote or auto insurance quote to see how much you can save today!