Consumer Advisory: Flood Insurance After Colorado Wildfires

Consumer Advisory: Flood Insurance After Colorado Wildfires

DENVER - The Colorado Division of Insurance (DOI) is encouraging people in and around the areas impacted by current wildfires across Colorado, including areas near or downstream of burn scars on or near federal lands, to seriously consider purchasing flood insurance.

In the aftermath of wildfires, there is a greater threat of flooding and mudflow in and below the burn scars because fires remove vegetation that would normally absorb rainfall and runoff. However, basic homeowners insurance does not include protection from flood damage, so homeowners will have to purchase flood insurance to be covered.

There is typically a 30 day waiting period for flood insurance coverage. It may be possible for exceptions to be made to the usual 30-day waiting period for new flood insurance policies to go into effect. But people should not rely on getting the 30 day waiting period waived and should get covered as soon as possible.

According to FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), exceptions to the 30-day waiting period may be made for homeowners that buy flood insurance within 60 days after the wildfire is contained, and if the following conditions are met:

• The insured property is privately-owned, meaning that it is property not owned by a federal, state, local, territorial, or tribal government.
• Post-wildfire conditions on federal lands caused or worsened the flooding.
• The policyholder purchased the new, additional, or increased coverage either:
  • before the fire containment date, or
  • during the 60-calendar-day period following the fire containment date

Information on Flood Insurance

This may be especially important for communities near or downstream of wildfires burning on or near federal lands, including but not limited to areas affected by the Aspen Acres, Gold Mountain, Ferris, Willow, and Snyder fires. Contact your insurance agent about buying flood insurance. If you do not have an agent or your agent does not sell flood insurance, contact the NFIP at 800-427-4661 or go to floodsmart.gov to get the name of an agent in your area.

More information on flood insurance from FEMA and the NFIP can be found on FEMA's "Flood Insurance" website, as well as the NFIP's floodsmart.gov website.

Know that personnel from the Division of Insurance will be present to help answer insurance questions at Pueblo's Disaster Assistance Center in the coming days. More information about the Disaster Assistance Center can be found here.