Colorado's new wildfire score law, in plain language.

What the law requires

Colorado insurers that use a wildfire risk model or score to price, surcharge, underwrite, or nonrenew your policy now have to:

• Tell you your score. An annual written notice of your wildfire risk score and any risk classification the insurer uses, in plain language, along with the mitigation discounts that apply.
• Count your mitigation work. Insurers that consider parcel-level and community mitigation in their models must ensure your score reflects what you have actually done: defensible space, roof class, ember-resistant vents, and the rest.
• Publish what earns a discount. Insurers must identify, on a website, the mitigation actions that would earn a discount or premium adjustment, and how much.
• Let you appeal. If you believe your score is inaccurate, you can appeal it directly to your insurer. Not to a regulator, not through a lawyer. Directly.

The deadlines that make it real

The appeal right comes with clocks, and the clocks are the teeth:

That last row matters more than it looks. Every denial is potentially reviewable by the state's Commissioner of Insurance. Insurers know this.

What an appeal actually turns on

The law lets you challenge a score you believe is inaccurate, and the natural basis is mitigation work the model missed. Which means an appeal is, at its core, an evidence question:

The homeowners best positioned under this law are the ones whose documentation answers all three before they ever file.

Practical steps for Colorado homeowners

1. Watch for your notice. The annual written score disclosure is the trigger document. Keep it.
2. Check your insurer's mitigation-discount page. They are now required to publish which actions earn what.
3. Do the mitigation, or document what is already done. Zone 0 through Zone 2, roof, vents, eaves.
4. Document in a way that holds up. Dated, located, tamper-evident records of the property's condition, made before you need them.
5. If the score does not reflect reality, appeal in writing and keep copies of everything, including the acknowledgment.

Where this is heading

Colorado is the first state to put this in statute, but California proved the model first: since late 2022, insurance regulation 2644.9 has given California policyholders the right to appeal their wildfire risk score, with the same 10-day acknowledgment and 30-day decision clocks. Washington passed a similar disclosure-and-appeal bill through its Senate 48 to 1 before it stalled in the House this session; it is widely expected back. The direction is one way: more transparency, more appeal rights, more weight on documentation.

Fair questions

This page is a general-information guide to Colorado HB25-1182, not legal advice. For the statute itself, see the Colorado General Assembly's page for HB25-1182. For questions about your specific policy or appeal, consult your insurer's written notice or a licensed professional.