Homeowner's Insurance

[MTBox]

Who are folks using for homeowner's insurance these days? 

After many years of diligently paying my premiums, All State has decided they don't want to cover my home anymore.

Looking for recommendations of companies that are reasonable to work with in the mountains.

Thanks!

[Hollis]

Try a broker, they know which companies are servicing mountain properties, they do the looking for you.
I use P&C Agency, I'm on my 3rd insurance company in 15 years. They make the process as simple as can be.

https://agents.insuranceaai.com/pc-agency

[O'B's]

Hey Michael-
will they take a letter? We provide letters for homeowners. Allstate does I know that, as do some others.

[Hollis]

Hey Michael-
will they take a letter? We provide letters for homeowners. Allstate does I know that, as do some others.

OB, 
Twice when I acquired a new insurance carrier, talking with my broker, she was surprised to find out that we had a VFD, town water and fire hydrants in Jamestown. I took pictures of a few and one with my house in the photo.
She said it was a "plus" and I got coverage.

[Laurel Wanrow]

We have Allstate and have also had to verify the town has fire hydrants and a VFD. In the past they allowed Chris with the VFD to complete a fire mitigation check and send a letter. Then two years ago we had to be certified by Wildfire Partners to stay insured. It was a process, so I hope this hasn’t changed that they’ll accept that?

[Jese Engwall]

I've been with State Farm for 8 years now.  I haven't had any issues- fingers crossed

[O'B's]

Hey all-a couple of quick good to knows: JT does have an ISO rating and a pressurized water system including hydrants. I think the town ISO is 6, but I can find out. Many insurance companies assume that in rural areas the ISO is 10 which essentially means that there is no real fire protection. Lefthand's ISO is 4/10, which means that the three homes we protect that are more than 5 miles from our stations effectively have an ISO 10, although we will be able to work in those areas, and provide great service. An ISO of 1 is what an urban agency (City of Boulder) would have, a professional firefighting staff, pressurized hydrants every 500 feet, robust training programs and modern, fully equipped apparatus. The ISO rating helps determine the cost to insure you home, e.g. how much risk the insurance company is willing to take. The lower the ISO, the lower the risk, the lower the cost of insurance.

The letters I write for homeowners for insurance companies typically are for mitigation, which is generally why and address will fail, especially if they have been insured. I also field inquiries from potential insurance companies regarding ISO ratings for addresses, department type and staffing (paid/volunteer), frontline apparatus, water hauling, response times, training, equipment, etc., when residents are applying for insurance. For instance, our mitigation crew did the mitigation for Laurel so we provided them with a letter certifying the mitigation in accordance with particular recognized standards. Allstate and others including State Farm and Farmers will accept my letters, as well as wildfire partners' certification.

Another factor is the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). CWPPs are the purview of the Fire Protection Districts and fire departments, they help us tailor our efforts in community risk reduction. JT is an area of special interest in the Lefthand CWPP, although technically JT is not part of the Lefthand Fire Protection District. Hence we did not do an ASI risk rating for Jamestown. Per the Colorado Wildfire Risk map, Jamestown is predominantly a moderate wildfire risk, with pockets of low and high risk, which are generally factors of building density and slope. If I was to do an NFPA 1144 survey I imagine that the ASI would be moderate, but that's a guess. The JVFD services JT within the municipal boundary. Lefthand does have automatic aid agreements with JVFD and supports JVFD on calls. There is always the opportunity to do better.

Ultimately, the insurance companies are fickle and a good broker can pay dividends in the long run. Some higher end insurance companies will provide wildfire protection services as well in the form of a taskforce of brush trucks. They try to integrate with the fire management organization with varying success, I can point to successes and failures in that system from on the ground experience on large fires. If you need a home assessment, thanks to the passage of 1A, the Wildfire Partners can help, and if they ask if you want/need an insurance letter, you should say yes. Now that letter will need to be current (within 6 months), but the problem with the insurance company assessors is that they look at any vegetation/potentially combustible material as a threat with no regard for species or live fuel water retention. There are certain species that will only burn if your house is burning, and others that will easily carry fire to your home.

The IAFC, IAFF, NWCG, CSFS, and County Wildfire Partners all endorse the Firewise Community Protection program. If folks take the simple steps to adopt these standards, they can take control of protecting their own property and ensuring their insurance remains in force. Keep the 1st 3-5 feet around your home clear of flammable material, keep gutters and surfaces clear of pine needles, gutters and roofs should be non-combustible construction, don't put out flammable welcome mats, bring your porch cushions in when not in use. It's the ember storm that takes homes, it starts something else (cushions, mats, pine needles) on fire and that fire carries into the house. There's no stopping a head fire, but mitigation will bring flanking fire to the ground where FF's can fight it.

Happy fire season! O'B

[m+j_matlin]

Chris,

Thanks for your thorough analysis of the insurance situation in the mountains.

Michael,

We have Allstate as well, and we are in the process of re-certifying with Wildfire partners. We received a (non-renewal) letter from Allstate indicating some risk factors that we have no control over, such as the slope of our property. I was wondering if they rejected you even after your property was mitigated? TIA

[Jese Engwall]

Very informative, thanks Chris!

I voluntarily did the Wild Fire Partner's Certification in 2021- highly recommend their program.  They had a forestry services match offer at that time(big savings!)  It was really educational as they explained the whats and whys and also provided the recommendations in tiers of priority- mandatory to pass, highly recommended, get to it some day.  I believe it needs to be renewed/inspected every four years (and kept up annually).  I offered to provide this to State Farm, and they said "well, good job, but we don't need the certificate"

[O'B's]

Hey Mark and Jeannie-give me a shout at the station, I can help. 720-214--0560

[EricH]

In case it is helpful, we are using Safeco for our home (and also auto & flood) insurance, and they have continued to cover us for 10 years now. 

Our insurance broker is Monica Santa Maria at Gallagher Insurance.  She can be reached at monica_santamaria@ajg.com or (303) 444-4666, and we appreciate her so much.  She is well aware of how difficult it can be to cover mountain homes these days, and it's possible that she might be able to assist. 

Good luck!

[David Mans]

I don't quite understand how it works within the same companies, but I've had the best luck with another Allstate agent, Tyler Harrington.  Give him a call.=#ffffffTyler Harrington T: 303-494-8725 4800 Baseline Rd D200 Boulder, CO 80303