Colorado FAIR Plan: what it covers, what it costs, who qualifies

Does Colorado have a FAIR Plan?

Yes. Colorado has a FAIR Plan: the Colorado FAIR Plan Association, the state's insurer of last resort, created under HB23-1288 (signed May 12, 2023). It began accepting residential applications on April 10, 2025. If you've just been non-renewed, the plan is now an open route.

Colorado is the newest state FAIR Plan in the country. HB23-1288 authorized the program in May 2023; its Plan of Operation was approved on July 26, 2024; the board seated in January 2024; and the first applications were accepted April 10, 2025, with first policies bound mid-2025.

Colorado's FAIR Plan is not sold direct. You apply through a licensed Colorado agent or broker, who submits the application on your behalf. The coverage form is a modified named-peril dwelling policy, not the HO-3 most homeowners think of, so what it does and doesn't cover, the dwelling cap, who qualifies, and how to apply are each laid out in the sections below.

What does the Colorado FAIR Plan cover and exclude?

The Colorado FAIR Plan's base policy covers fire and lightning only. Nothing else is in the base. The form is a modified Dwelling Property Basic (CFP DP 00 01 01 25, a named-peril contract), and it pays on an actual-cash-value basis: depreciated value, not replacement cost (United Policyholders, verified May 2026).

You can add optional 'extended coverage' endorsements for windstorm, hail, explosion, riot or civil commotion, damage from vehicles, smoke, volcanic eruption, and vandalism and malicious mischief. Wind, hail, and vandalism are NOT in the base policy: they're add-ons you have to elect and pay for separately.

What the plan does not cover at all: theft, flood, earthquake, personal liability, and loss of use (the additional-living-expenses coverage that pays for a hotel and meals if your home is uninhabitable). Those are not endorsable; the plan won't write them.

This is why a standalone FAIR Plan policy is rarely a complete answer in Colorado. Consumer advocates at United Policyholders recommend pairing the FAIR Plan with a separate difference-in-conditions (DIC) wrap: a second policy from the excess-and-surplus-lines market that fills in liability, theft, water damage, ALE, and replacement-cost coverage. The DIC section below has more on what that costs and who writes it.

What is the maximum coverage on a Colorado FAIR Plan?

The Colorado FAIR Plan caps a residential policy at $750,000 combined dwelling and contents coverage; commercial buildings can go up to $5 million (Colorado General Assembly HB23-1288, verified May 2026). Read that combined limit carefully: it is not a $750,000 dwelling cap with a separate contents pool stacked on top. The dwelling structure and everything inside it share the same ceiling. If you insure a $700,000 rebuild, you have $50,000 left for contents, not enough to replace a fully furnished home.

The base form is a modified DP-1 (CFP DP 00 01 01 25). It pays losses on an actual cash value basis, not replacement cost: depreciation comes out of the check before it reaches you. There is no liability, no theft, no additional living expense built in.

The $750,000 figure was set by HB23-1288, signed May 12, 2023, and confirmed in the Plan of Operation. Homes whose rebuild value exceeds that cap, or homeowners who need split dwelling and contents limits or liability back, generally pair the FAIR Plan with a difference-in-conditions wrap; that section is below.

Who is eligible for the Colorado FAIR Plan?

Colorado's FAIR Plan is a last resort by design, with a specific gate: you must show that at least three admitted (state-licensed) carriers have declined to write you, and you must not currently hold an offer of coverage from any admitted carrier (Colorado FAIR Plan Association, verified May 2026). The piece most applicants miss is the second half: a current admitted offer at a high premium still counts as an offer. You stay ineligible for the FAIR Plan until that offer is off the table.

The three declinations have to come from admitted carriers, the ones licensed and regulated by the Colorado Division of Insurance under HB23-1288. Quotes from surplus-lines (non-admitted) carriers, like Lloyd's syndicates or specialty E&S markets, do not count toward the three, and they do not disqualify you either. If a surplus-lines broker has quoted you, that is separate from the declinations test.

The property itself also has to meet the plan's underwriting and condition standards. As a property pool, not a guaranteed-issue program, the Colorado FAIR Plan can still decline on condition grounds after three admitted carriers have already said no (Colorado FAIR Plan Association). For an unusual property type, a licensed Colorado agent who has placed FAIR Plan business before is the practical first call.

How do you apply for the Colorado FAIR Plan?

Through a licensed Colorado insurance producer, not direct from the plan: the Colorado FAIR Plan Association doesn't sell to consumers, so an agent submits the application for you (verified May 2026). If you already have an independent agent, they can do this. Otherwise any licensed property insurance producer in Colorado can submit the application on your behalf. The plan's customer-care line, (833) 554-5425, runs Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:00pm Mountain Time, and can answer questions about the process but won't quote or bind you.

The plan does not publish a public broker-finder tool. A practical path is to ask the agent who placed your current or recent homeowners policy first, since they already have your file. Independent agents who run multiple carriers will also typically be able to submit a FAIR Plan application after their admitted-market quoting comes up empty.

Your producer will need the basics any property carrier wants (property address, year built, square footage, construction type, and a replacement-cost estimate), plus the declination evidence the eligibility section above describes. The Colorado FAIR Plan doesn't publish a service-level commitment for turnaround; if a closing date or mortgage deadline is in play, ask the producer to confirm timing and to issue an insurance binder as soon as the policy is bound, since the binder is what lenders accept as proof of coverage until the full policy document arrives.

How much does the Colorado FAIR Plan cost?

The Colorado FAIR Plan generally costs more than a standard admitted-market homeowners policy for narrower coverage. That isn't a surcharge; it's a function of what the policy is. The base form is a modified ISO Dwelling Property Basic (DP-1) policy, filed as CFP DP 00 01 01 25, which covers fire, lightning, and a short list of extended perils on an actual-cash-value basis, with no liability, no theft, no water damage, no additional living expenses, and no replacement-cost option.

A standard HO-3 wraps all of that into one premium. The typical FAIR-Plan stack does not: a homeowner generally pays one premium for the FAIR Plan dwelling policy and a second for a difference-in-conditions (DIC) wrap that adds the liability, theft, water, ALE, and replacement-cost coverage the FAIR Plan leaves out. Two premiums for what an HO-3 would have charged one, plus the narrower base, is why the stack runs higher than a comparable voluntary-market policy where one is available.

The Colorado FAIR Plan started writing policies in mid-2025 (The Colorado Sun, verified May 2026), so a stabilized average-premium figure and a public rate-filing history haven't accumulated yet. As of writing, the plan hasn't published an aggregate residential rate; the figure on any quote depends on the dwelling's rebuild cost, construction, wildfire-exposure score, and the wrap carrier you pair it with. If your renewal premium spiked, the practical move is to run both quotes side by side before assuming the FAIR Plan is the cheaper route.

What's changed recently with the Colorado FAIR Plan?

The Colorado FAIR Plan Association is the youngest FAIR Plan in the country, and as of mid-2025 its policy book was still in the dozens. HB23-1288 was signed May 12, 2023; the board was seated January 2024; the Plan of Operation was approved July 26, 2024; the plan began accepting residential applications April 10, 2025, and by mid-July 2025 had bound coverage for more than two dozen families (Colorado Sun / Colorado Division of Insurance, verified May 2026). The brokers-only access channel and the narrow base form explain that pace more than any shortage of demand.

The backdrop is the structural pullback that produced HB23-1288. Colorado homeowners premiums roughly doubled between 2018 and 2024, and the state now sits near the top of US average homeowners premiums, around $4,600 a year (Colorado Sun / Colorado Division of Insurance, verified May 2026). The December 2021 Marshall Fire, which destroyed more than a thousand homes, and a run of severe hail years drove carrier non-renewals into the foothills and the wildland-urban interface; declinations concentrated there years before the plan opened.

Two pieces of state machinery sit next to the plan and matter for placement decisions. The Polis administration's 2024-2025 homeowners-insurance 'roadmap' set out a mitigation-credit framework, and Colorado runs a mitigation-and-insurance disclosure regime that requires carriers to credit defensible-space and home-hardening work: material to the admitted-market path before the FAIR Plan, not within it. There is no published depopulation or takeout program because there is no policy book yet to depopulate, and the assessment mechanics in the Plan of Operation have not been triggered. The full sequence of plan, statute, and regulatory dates is logged on the site's changelog.

What is a difference-in-conditions wrap, and do you need one?

Almost always, yes. The Colorado FAIR Plan's base form (CFP DP 00 01 01 25) is a modified DP-1 fire-only policy that pays actual cash value (depreciated value at loss), with no liability, no theft, no water damage, no additional living expenses, and no replacement-cost upgrade: coverage a standard HO-3 homeowners policy would normally include. A difference-in-conditions policy, often called a 'wrap' or DIC, is a separate policy that sits alongside the FAIR Plan and fills those gaps: liability, theft, water, ALE, and replacement-cost on the dwelling above the FAIR Plan's ACV floor.

You generally cannot buy a DIC from a standard admitted homeowners carrier. They're written by excess & surplus lines (E&S) carriers, non-admitted insurers placed through a broker with E&S authority. Your independent agent will tell you whether they can place one in-house or have to refer you to a specialty wholesaler.

United Policyholders recommends the FAIR Plan + DIC stack for almost every Colorado buyer, modeled on the long-running California FAIR Plan + DIC pattern. Typical DIC premiums in Colorado aren't published; the FAIR Plan itself only began writing policies in 2025 and the DIC wholesaler market here is shallow. Structurally the stack adds two premiums where a standard HO-3 would have charged one, in exchange for narrower coverage.

For a buyer at closing, the lender will want both binders in the file: the FAIR Plan declarations page and the DIC binder. Get the DIC binder in writing from the wholesaler before you close; a verbal placement won't satisfy a hazard-coverage funding condition.

Should you try E&S or a specialty admitted carrier first?

Yes, before you apply to the Colorado FAIR Plan. The plan is the insurer of last resort, not the next insurer to call. Two markets sit between an admitted carrier saying no and the FAIR Plan accepting your application: small specialty admitted carriers, and excess and surplus lines (E&S, sometimes called non-admitted carriers).

Specialty admitted carriers are licensed by Colorado and regulated like the big names, but underwrite niches the major carriers won't: older roofs, wildland-urban interface ZIPs, prior claims, vacant homes during a renovation. An independent agent can run several of these in one sitting; a captive agent (one who writes only their own brand) cannot.

E&S carriers come next. They aren't admitted in Colorado, so the state's guaranty fund doesn't backstop them if the carrier fails, and rates aren't filed with the Division of Insurance. In return, they'll write almost anything: high-rebuild-cost homes, log cabins above 8,000 feet, properties with a recent fire claim. Premiums are typically higher than the standard admitted market, often lower than a FAIR-Plan-plus-DIC stack, and the policy form is broader than the FAIR Plan's basic DP-1.

If two or three of these turn you down in writing, you've also met the FAIR Plan's diligent-search precondition. Keep the declination letters; the plan asks for them.

What to do this week if you've been non-renewed

A non-renewal notice is jarring, especially after years with no claims. Most homeowners in this position do end up insured. Work through these in order; the goal is continuous coverage by the date on the letter.

1. Read the notice and write down the expiration date. Your existing policy runs until that date, not before. You have until then to line up a replacement, and the date controls every step that follows.
2. Call an independent agent and ask for quotes from at least three admitted carriers. Independent agents place with multiple companies; a captive agent only quotes their own. If every admitted carrier declines, ask the agent to put that in writing; you will need it for the next step.
3. If admitted carriers decline, ask about the Colorado FAIR Plan and excess & surplus (E&S) lines. Both exist for homes the standard market won't cover. The FAIR Plan is the named-peril option of last resort; E&S carriers sometimes write packages a FAIR Plan does not. You apply to the FAIR Plan through a licensed agent or broker, and the Colorado FAIR Plan Association publishes a broker locator on its site.
4. If you go to the FAIR Plan, ask about a difference-in-conditions (DIC) wrap. The FAIR Plan covers fire and a few other named perils only; it leaves out liability, theft, and water damage. A DIC policy from a separate carrier fills those gaps, and a lender will usually accept the pair as the equivalent of a standard homeowners policy.
5. Keep every quote, decline letter, and email. You may need them later if your CLUE report (the industry prior-claims database) has an error, or if you decide to dispute the non-renewal with your state insurance regulator.

For the full version of this checklist, see what to do if you got a non-renewal notice.