The Colorado FAIR Plan: Three Declinations, $750,000, Actual Cash Value
James Brazil lives in Mérida, Mexico. He founded Swift Agent Sites and studied Classics at the University of Mississippi.
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The Colorado FAIR Plan is for property that licensed standard insurers will not write. You apply through a licensed agent who is registered with the plan, and you show three declinations. Basic residential coverage, for the property and contents, is up to $750,000. Commercial property and business personal property can go to $5,000,000.
The policy pays actual cash value, not replacement cost. Basic covered perils are fire, lightning, and smoke. House Bill 23-1288, signed May 12, 2023, required the plan of operation to provide limits not to exceed those two ceilings. Customer care is (833) 554-5425, weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mountain time.
What do you have to bring?
The eligibility page says you must own property that the standard market will not insure, use a licensed agent registered with the plan, and show three declinations. Save each declination as a letter or an email that names the company and the address. A verbal "we do not write that zip code" is harder to use. The agent, not a website form you fill alone, is the path the plan describes.
If your current insurer is nonrenewing, the 60-day notice is the time to collect those three letters. See the 60-day notice. Do not wait until the old policy has already ended and then discover the FAIR Plan application is still in the agent's queue.
What the basic policy pays, and what it leaves out
Fire, lightning, and smoke are the basic perils on the plan's coverage page. Optional extended coverages may be bought for windstorm or hail, explosion, riot or civil commotion, vehicles, volcanic eruption, and vandalism. General exclusions include ordinance or law, earth movement, and water damage. Actual cash value means depreciation comes off a loss. A new roof at today's price is a replacement-cost conversation, and this policy is not that conversation unless an endorsement you bought says otherwise. Read the form.
Water damage on that exclusion list is a reason to ask about flood separately. The Division of Insurance says homeowners and renters policies do not cover flood losses, and a new NFIP policy typically waits 30 days. See flood insurance. A FAIR Plan binder is not a flood policy.
Who answers questions about the policy you already have?
Customer care at (833) 554-5425 can explain the plan's coverage. A dispute about a claim, a cancellation, or a bill on a policy the plan issued still starts with the company. The Division of Insurance complaint portal is the next step if that fails. See how to file. The Division does not set the loss amount. An auto policy at 25/50/15 is a different contract. See the auto minimums.
The senior property-tax exemption does not make a house insurable. See that exemption.
What to ask before you bind
Ask the agent to name the three companies that declined the address and to attach those letters. Ask whether the agent is registered with the plan. Ask the limit, and confirm it is not above $750,000 for a residence and contents, or $5,000,000 for commercial property and business personal property. Ask whether the quote is actual cash value. Ask which perils are in the basic form and which ones, especially wind and hail, are optional. Ask whether water damage is excluded. Customer care at (833) 554-5425 can walk through the plan's own description on a weekday between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mountain time.
House Bill 23-1288 set the ceilings. It did not turn the policy into replacement cost. A claim for a ten-year-old roof will reflect depreciation unless an endorsement you bought says otherwise. Get that answer before you let the prior policy lapse. Three declinations plus a registered agent are the eligibility facts on the plan's own page. A single phone call to one insurer is not three declinations.
Write the date you read this rule on the paper you are using, whether that paper is a declarations page, a notice, a contract, or a permit. Colorado offices do not share one file. The Division of Insurance, the Division of Property Taxation, the county assessor, and the Public Utilities Commission each keep their own. A number you saw on a neighbor's bill, or on a mover's ad from another state, is not your deadline. If two official pages disagree, the document in your hand and a phone call to the office that issued it settle the question for your account. Keep the postmark, the email header, or the receipt. Those are the dates a later complaint can use. Do not wait for a second notice to start the count that already began when the first one was mailed or delivered.
FAQ
Who can apply? An owner whose property standard licensed insurers will not write, using a licensed agent registered with the plan, with three declinations.
What is the residential limit? Up to $750,000 for residential property and contents. Commercial property and business personal property can go to $5,000,000.
Is the payment replacement cost? No. The plan says policies pay actual cash value.
Does the basic policy cover hail? Hail is listed with the optional extended coverages, not with fire, lightning, and smoke. Ask before you assume it is included.
Does it cover flood? Water damage is on the plan's general exclusion list. Flood insurance is a separate NFIP policy.
Next step
Collect three written declinations and call a licensed agent who is registered with the plan. Ask whether the quote is actual cash value, which perils are basic, and which extended coverages you would have to add. Get the effective date in writing before the old policy ends.
Sources: Colorado FAIR Plan: eligibility, Colorado FAIR Plan: coverage, Division of Insurance: FAIR Plan, House Bill 23-1288.
This is general information for Colorado. It is not a recommendation to buy, drop, or switch a specific policy. Confirm current details with the insurer or a licensed agent who knows your situation.
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