{"id":12986,"date":"2026-03-06T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/home-insurance-rates-rising-in-la-plata-county-amid-growing-wildfire-risk\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:34:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:34:56","slug":"home-insurance-rates-rising-in-la-plata-county-amid-growing-wildfire-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/home-insurance-rates-rising-in-la-plata-county-amid-growing-wildfire-risk\/","title":{"rendered":"Home insurance rates rising in La Plata County amid growing wildfire risk"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Bob
Bob Wolff explains the amount of wildfire mitigation work he has done to his property and house, located in Animas Air Park just south of Durango. Even after working with his homeowners insurance provider to mitigate his property, his policy was dropped because it was deemed too much of a risk. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Bob Wolff thought he did everything right when mitigating the fire danger around his home at Animas Air Park ahead of what officials expect could be an active wildfire season<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The mitigation work he has been doing \u2013 namely removing flammable material from around his home and thinning undergrowth to create defenses against potential wildfires \u2013 was to keep his home insured.<\/p>\n

Insurance rates have more than doubled in Colorado since 2018, according to Colorado State University\u2019s Regional Economic Development Institute<\/a>. Additionally, insurance policy nonrenewal rates grew from 0.34% in 2018 to 1.14% in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cNotably, these nonrenewal rates are higher in areas more likely to experience costly hazard events and in areas with fast premium growth,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

The report found that La Plata County faces high risk for natural hazards \u2013 like wildfires \u2013 and a medium risk of insurance nonrenewal on the Federal Emergency Management Agency\u2019s National Risk Index.<\/a><\/p>\n

Wolff talked to his insurance provider, The Hartford, about how to make sure his home remained insured. The agency sent an underwriter in the fall to take photos and provide additional input on how he should mitigate his house. With the underwriter\u2019s assessment, the company gave Wolff a mitigation deadline of April 20.<\/p>\n

Wolff spent $7,000 mitigating the property and met the deadline. Then, last week the company told him it was dropping his coverage April 20, even after he worked to meet the mitigation requirements it outlined.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve spent a boatload of money now, because I was all in,\u201d Wolff said. \u201cI\u2019ve cleaned this place up only to get thrown under the bus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Piles
Piles of mulch have been created by chipping trees and branches around Bob Wolff\u2019s property as he mitigates for wildfire in Animas Air Park. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Wildfires and Insurance<\/div>\n

Wolff is among many La Plata County residents worried about the upcoming wildfire season and whether they can keep their homes insured. Based on a non-scientific Durango Herald<\/em> survey, most of the 58 respondents described feeling \u201cworried,\u201d \u201cfearful,\u201d \u201canxious\u201d and \u201cfrustrated\u201d about the upcoming wildfire season.<\/p>\n

The survey also asked respondents whether their insurance rates had increased in recent years. Of the respondents, 94% said their rates had increased, reflecting the statewide trend.<\/p>\n

\"After
After clearing trees around his property, Bob Wolff and his wife are creating metal sculpture gardens in front of their home in Animas Air Park. The gardens both beautify their yard and replace flammable materials from around their home in accordance with the home assessment he received from Durango Fire Protection District. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Ricky King, owner of Cortez-based Ricky King Insurance Agency, said insurance companies rely on public protection classification ratings, determined by organizations like the Insurance Services Offices, to help determine how much homeowners pay.<\/p>\n

The ISO rating analyzes a community\u2019s fire protection capabilities, assigning a public protection class from 1 to 10 to help insurers determine property insurance premiums, King said.<\/p>\n

Those ISO ratings incorporate water access, emergency services, fire department resources and community wildfire mitigation efforts, which influence how much premiums cost, according to Verisk<\/a>, the company that administers ISO ratings.<\/p>\n

Communities with a Class 1 rating typically have lower premiums than those with a Class 10 rating. According to the Durango Fire Protection District\u2019s website, the district has a class 4 ISO rating<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Insurance rates are rising in large part because of the increasing risk of wildfires. But King said they are also going up because building materials and labor are more expensive.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s part of where we live, and we have to adapt to that,\u201d King said.<\/p>\n

And when a homeowner loss does occur \u2013 say a house burns down \u2013 the insurance claim is huge compared to health or car insurance claims.<\/p>\n

That, and the fact that homes contain irreplaceable personal items, is a reason to take every precaution to protect a home before having to file a claim.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to mitigate any potential loss, because when a homeowner claim occurs, it\u2019s pretty catastrophic,\u201d King said.<\/p>\n

Every base covered<\/div>\n

Working to clear flammable material from around a structure in a preemptive effort to reduce wildfire risk has been shown to enhance safety and strengthen eligibility for insurance and help maintain coverage as risks continue to rise, according to Fire Adapted Colorado<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And, according to the Durango Herald<\/em> survey results, roughly 95% of respondents said they do fire mitigation on their property.<\/p>\n

But, while 75% of respondents said they have spoken with their insurance provider about fire mitigation, only 39% said they had done a home assessment with a local fire department or nonprofit.<\/p>\n

\"Bob
Bob Wolff holds a one-eighth inch mesh wire that he will use to cover small openings around his house as he mitigates for wildfire in Animas Air Park. The mesh prevents embers from entering his home. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Alex Graff of Wildfire Adapted Partnerships said getting assessed by both an insurance agency and a fire department or nonprofit like his is a good way to cover all bases when it comes to fire mitigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019m telling people at this point is keeping your insurance is a utilitarian endeavor,\u201d Graff said. \u201cSign up for a site assessment and see if everything is really to that super high level, because that\u2019s what it requires.\u201d<\/p>\n

Site assessments are free. They also provide homeowners with mitigation tips in adherence to the Colorado State Forest Service\u2019s Home Ignition Zone guidelines<\/a>, Graff said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDurango Fire was super great at pointing things out, photographing them and giving them to me, and they weren\u2019t oppressive,\u201d Wolff said of his home assessment.<\/p>\n

He said the department gave him clear direction on how to make his home safer.<\/p>\n

When it comes to something as important as a home, taking every precaution to ensure it is both insurable and fortified against wildfires is especially important this year.<\/p>\n

\"Bob
Bob Wolff explains the amount of wildfire mitigation work he has been doing to his property and house that is located in Animas Air Park. Even so, his homeowners insurance policy was suddenly dropped. Here, he holds the home assessment he did with Durango Fire Protection District, which laid out details on how he could make his home less susceptible to wildfire. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Resources are available for homeowners who are worried or unsure about obtaining coverage. The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies monitors insurance premiums in every Colorado county, which can be viewed online at the Division of Insurance\u2019s premium comparison reports website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Additionally, if a homeowner is denied coverage by three insurers, they may qualify for a Fair Access to Insurance Requirements plan \u2013 state-mandated insurance that gives people basic coverage when no other option is available, according to coloradofairplan.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While FAIR plans typically have higher premiums and less coverage, they remain an option for home insurance. However, they are generally considered a last resort for homeowners in areas with extreme wildfire risk.<\/p>\n

Wolff is still working to make sure his home is both wildfire ready and insured. Currently, he talking to Allstate and Farmers, he said, as well as working to clear away flammable material and harden his home in line with his home assessment.<\/p>\n

\"After
After clearing trees around his property, Bob Wolff and his wife are creating metal sculpture gardens in front of their home in Animas Air Park. Here, Wolff has removed the branches from a juniper and will next remove the stump itself. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mitigation work can help, but it may not be enough to maintain property coverage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,1094,994,84],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-12986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-insurance","tag-trueanthem","tag-wildfire"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12986"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18756,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12986\/revisions\/18756"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12986"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=12986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}