What your storm deductible actually comes to in dollars, and whether raising your regular deductible is worth the exposure. Estimates only — not a quote.
A typical 2% catastrophe deductible on $300,000 of coverage means you pay the first $6,000 of storm damage yourself — 2x the $2,500 deductible that applies to everything else. That is $3,500 more you would need on hand after a named storm than after a kitchen fire.
Shown on Colorado’s reference coverage level of $300,000. Enter your own coverage above for your number.
Hail, not wildfire, is what makes Colorado expensive - the Division of Insurance's own analysis attributes 26% to 54% of an average Colorado homeowners premium to hail, and says it raises rates even in parts of the state that rarely see it. Carriers have responded by abandoning flat wind-hail deductibles almost entirely. Most major Colorado carriers now write a SEPARATE wind-and-hail deductible as a percentage of Coverage A, commonly 1% to 5%, with 1% to 2% the prevailing choice and 5% appearing on older roofs. On a $300,000 dwelling limit, 2% is $6,000 out of pocket before the insurer pays toward a hail-damaged roof - and hail is the claim a Colorado homeowner is by far most likely to file. This is carrier practice, not a Colorado statute; the state does not legislate a deductible menu the way Florida does, and Colorado is not on the Insurance Information Institute's hurricane/windstorm deductible list, which covers coastal named-storm states. One Colorado-specific rule worth knowing: it is illegal in Colorado for a contractor to waive, rebate or absorb a policyholder's insurance deductible, so 'we'll cover your deductible' roofing offers are not a lawful way around the number. Relief is arriving on the mitigation side: Senate Bill 26-155, signed in June 2026, created the Strengthen Colorado Homes Enterprise inside the Division of Insurance to fund grants for impact-resistant roof retrofits on owner-occupied primary residences.
This needs your two real quoted premiums. We deliberately don’t apply a “typical savings” percentage: deductible credits vary by carrier, state, and filing, so a made-up multiplier would give you a break-even that looks precise and isn’t. Ask your insurer to quote both deductibles — it takes one phone call, and the answer is specific to you.
What homeowners insurance costs in your state, and whether what you pay is out of line.
Is your dwelling coverage actually enough to rebuild — and what a shortfall costs at claim time.
Did your renewal go up more than premiums did across your state — and what to do about it.
Your renewal jumped and the carrier said 'rates went up.' Here is what is actually driving it, how to tell whether yours outran your state's, and the four levers that genuinely move the number.
Flood and earth movement are excluded from every standard homeowners policy — and the clause that excludes them is written so a wind-and-water loss can be denied entirely. Here is what is out, and what fills each gap.
Non-renewed, cancelled, or declined: read the notice correctly, stop force-placed insurance, fix the reason code on it, and get the house insured again in 30 days.
The exact sequence to run when your house is damaged — mitigation, documentation, the claim call script, the adjuster visit, reading the estimate, and every escalation step in order.