If you’re looking for ways to save money, finding the best deal on homeowners insurance is a great place to start. You can find the right coverage at an affordable cost by comparison shopping. We evaluated average rates for large home insurance companies in Colorado to help you find an affordable policy.
Cheap Home Insurance in Colorado Cost Comparison
| Company | Average annual premium in Colorado |
|---|---|
|
$1,251
|
|
|
$1,702
|
|
|
$1,853
|
|
|
Southern Farm Bureau
|
$1,911
|
|
$2,515
|
|
|
$2,610
|
|
|
Shelter
|
$2,646
|
|
$2,834
|
|
|
$3,107
|
|
|
$3,630
|
|
|
$4,350
|
|
|
$4,722
|
Related: Best Home Insurance Companies
Homeowners Insurance Cost Factors
Your ability to get cheap home insurance in Colorado will depend on several factors, such as:
- The cost to rebuild your home
- The materials your home is made of
- The age of your home
- The fire rating of your location
- The claims history of your location
- Your personal claims history
- Your credit
- The coverage amount and policy limits
- Your deductible amount
Related: Cheapest Homeowners Insurance Companies Of 2024
What Does Homeowners Insurance Cover?
A standard home insurance policy (called an HO-3) covers your house for any problem that’s not excluded in the policy. Common exclusions include nuclear hazard, earthquakes, sinkholes, power failure, war, wear and tear, vermin and insect infestations.
Your belongings (personal property) are covered for specific “perils” in a standard home insurance policy. Fires, tornadoes, theft, vandalism and explosions are just some of the problems covered by home insurance.
A standard home insurance policy can be broken down into these main coverage types:
- Dwelling: This pays to repair or rebuild your home if it’s damaged. It also covers attached structures, like a deck or garage.
- Other structures: This pays to repair or replace structures that are not attached to your home, like a fence or shed.
- Personal property: This pays to repair or replace your personal belongings after a problem like theft or fire. Your personal belongings include items like your furniture, clothing, rugs, jewelry, kitchen appliances and other items.
- Liability: This pays for property damage and injuries to you accidentally do to others. For example, if your dog bites someone your liability insurance can pay for a settlement or court judgment against you, and also your legal defense costs.
- Medical payments to others: This covers smaller medical claims made by people not in your household, no matter who was at fault for the injury. For example, if a guest falls on your front steps, medical payments coverage could pay for their visit to urgent care. Coverage amounts are small, such as $1,000.
- Additional living expenses: If you can’t live in your home due to a problem covered by your policy (like a fire), additional living expenses coverage pays for extra costs such as a hotel bill, restaurant meals and other necessary services, like a pet boarding service.
Compare Home Insurance Quotes
1
Lemonade
Excellent
Average
2
Erie
Very good
Low
3
Chubb
OK
Very low
What’s Not Covered by Homeowners Insurance?
Common exclusions found in a standard home insurance policy include problems like floods, nuclear hazard, earthquakes, sinkholes, power failure, war, wear and tear, vermin and insect infestations, and intentional loss.
It’s a good idea to read your policy closely to understand what is excluded from coverage.
Flood Insurance in Colorado
A standard homeowners insurance policy won’t cover flood damage. And with flooding becoming more frequent, you may want to consider flood insurance if your property is at risk.
Financial help from the government after a flood can be limited. It’s best to have your own flood insurance to rely on. Most people who have flood insurance buy it through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), a federal program. Private flood insurance is also available.
FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program (IHP) can provide monetary and direct assistance after a major disaster or emergency, if you qualify. This program helps people find housing after a problem directly caused by a disaster and that’s not covered by insurance or other sources.
Earthquake Insurance in Colorado
You may not think of earthquakes when you think of natural disasters in Colorado, but that state is actually an active tectonic area. According to the Colorado Geological Survey, the state is “essentially being pulled apart where the Rio Grande Rift cuts north/south across the mountainous, central part of the state. Colorado’s high mountains are a result of uplift on faults (with associated earthquakes) that are part of the rift system.”
Colorado has more than 90 potentially active faults and has experienced over 700 earthquakes with a magnitude 2.5 or higher since 1867.
“The state has experienced large natural (magnitude 6.5 or higher) and human-triggered (induced) earthquakes in recorded history and will continue to periodically experience large earthquakes in the future,” says the Colorado Geological Survey.
If you want coverage for earthquake damage, you’ll need to buy a separate earthquake insurance policy. A standard home insurance policy doesn’t cover earthquakes.
Earthquake insurance typically covers:
- Dwelling
- Other structures
- Personal property
- Additional living expenses
Earthquake insurance may have a separate deductible from your home insurance, usually between 10% to 25% of the dwelling’s policy limit.
Tips for Buying Homeowners Insurance
If you’re buying home insurance you likely want to find an affordable price without giving up quality coverage. Below are tips for both the first-time buyer and long-time homeowners who are switching companies:
- Determine house rebuilding costs. Request your home insurance agent help you calculate the cost to rebuild your home with comparable materials and the labor costs in your area. You’ll want to match your dwelling coverage to this estimate.
- Evaluate how much liability coverage you need. A good starting point for liability coverage is $300,000. A good rule of thumb for liability coverage is to have an amount that matches your net worth or what could be taken from you in a lawsuit
- Assess coverage gaps. Most homeowners insurance policies offer additional coverage types. For example, your insurer may offer coverage for sewer and water backup damage.
- Think about the benefits of replacement cost coverage instead of actual cash value. Replacement cost coverage will pay to replace your damaged items with new, similar items. Actual cash value coverage will only pay the depreciated value of your items and you’ll have to make up the difference if you buy new items.
- Consider add-on coverage for your belongings. Many homeowners have valuable items such as jewelry, family heirlooms and artwork. If you own these types of items, you might want to consider scheduling personal property so they are insured for the full value.
- Ask for discounts. Ask your insurance company if you are getting all the discounts you are eligible for. Many companies offer discounts for home security systems and bundling your home and auto insurance.
- Research financial ratings. Check the financial strength of your insurer. You can check out these ratings through companies such as A.M. Best or Standard & Poor’s. You may find that your financial institution will not finance a mortgage unless your home insurance company has at least an “A” or better financial strength rating.
- Compare quotes from multiple insurance companies. The same coverage from different companies can vary dramatically in price.
Methodology
Average home insurance rates were calculated using data from Quadrant Information Services. Rates are based on a policy with dwelling coverage of $300,000 and liability coverage of $100,000.
