Wildfire Preparedness:
Homeowners insurance typically covers property losses caused by wildfire and coverage continues to be available in most wildfire prone areas.
Many insurance companies require customers to share the wildfire risk by taking precautions to protect their property, requiring on-site inspections and notifying policyholders of necessary mitigation that will reduce risk to their home and keep it insurable.
Additional insurance considerations include:
• The type of construction, materials, and features on your home, including the
roofing, windows and siding.
• Distance to a fire hydrant and a fire station.
• Insurers consider many individual and geographical risk factors beyond
wildfire that affect premiums and insurability, such as hail proneness and
unique construction.
Wildfire Mitigation Resources:
• Firewise USA®: Provides instructional resources to inform communities how to
adapt to living with wildfire. csfs.colostate.edu/ wildfire-mitigation/coloradofirewise-communities/
• The Colorado State Forest Service: Provides professional forestry assistance,
wildfire mitigation expertise and outreach and education to help landowners
and communities reduce wildfire risk. csfs.colostate.edu/wildfire-mitigation
• The Fire Adapted Communities Coalition is committed to helping people and
communities in the wildland-urban interface adapt to living with wildfire and
reduce their risk for damage. FireAdapted.org
For more information, visit the resource center at coloradoprojectwildfire.com
General tips for maintaining your home insurance policy:
1. Schedule annual reviews with your insurance agent.
2. Understand the difference between replacement cost and market value.
3. Feel confident that the replacement cost of your home is sufficient to rebuild it.
4. Ask your insurance agent if your replacement cost automatically updates over time.
5. Photo or video the condition and contents of your home. Keep accurate inventories of personal possessions for faster and smoother claims’ settlements. Store video and photo records in the cloud. Check out these resources: https://one.google.com/about, https://www.carbonite.com, https://www.idrive.com, https://www.dropbox.com
Contact your insurance company or agent to learn more about reducing wildfire risk for your home.
Source: coloradorealtors.com; Unruh Allstate Team, Windsor, CO
Photo by Sippakorn Yamkasikorn from Pexels