AC199ABB324323C087258A2F0053BBCA Hearing Summary CLICS/CLICS2023A/commsumm.nsf PUBLICBILL SUMMARY For COLORADO DIVISION OF INSURANCE PRESENTATIONINTERIM COMMITTEE WILDFIRE MATTERS REVIEW COMMITTEEDate Sep 19, 2023 Location Old State Library Colorado Division of Insurance Presentation - Committee Discussion Only 09:14:39 AM Commissioner Mike Conway, Division of Insurance, Department of Regulatory Agencies, gave a presentation on the insurance availability issues being caused by wildfires. He discussed which areas of the state have the highest wildfire risk and how those areas are impacted the most by insurance availability issues. He also discussed how hail has an effect on the profitability of insurance providers in the state. Their presentation can be found here: https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/division_of_insurance_presentation.pdf 09:21:30 AM Commissioner Conway responded to questions from the committee on the decline of insurance policies being written. He discussed how both the affordability and availability of insurance have played a role in this decline. 09:25:57 AM Commissioner Conway gave an update on the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) plan, which was created by the passage of House Bill 23-1288. He explained that the FAIR plan is intended to serve as the insurer of last resort in Colorado and was made to solve the problem of availability, not affordability. 09:28:19 AM Commissioner Conway responded to questions from the committee on the existence of FAIR plans in other states and how they influenced Colorado's FAIR plan. He explained that there around 32 other states with FAIR plans and that Colorado has been looking into what is and is not working in those states. 09:33:41 AM Commissioner Conway gave an update on House Bill 23-1174, which provide funding to evaluate policies addressing homeowners insurance affordability. He explained that this evaluation is underway and discussed the potential of using a parametric insurance policy to address affordability. 09:40:42 AM Commissioner Conway responded to questions from the committee on the level of experience that insurance companies in the United States have with parametric insurance policies. 09:45:04 AM Commissioner Conway discussed how annual wildfire mitigation measures could help address insurance availability issues and how hail mitigation measures could help address insurance affordability issues. 09:47:33 AM Commissioner Conway responded to questions from the committee on the merits of a statewide standard for hail mitigation measures, such as roof hardening. He explained that compelling people to prusue mitigation measures is important but insurance availbility is still the priority.
