Insuring High-Value Homes
Get wildfire insurance in Colorado.
You hardened the house. Your options should have improved.
If they haven’t, the problem is probably not your house.
Addressing the capacity issue
Transparency doesn’t create capacity. New markets do.
Mitigation is one part of a two-part problem. Homeowners hear that insurers must recognize mitigation, and reasonably conclude:
“If I spend $20,000 hardening my home, my premium should go down.”
That is not necessarily how the market works.
Colorado’s transparency laws are a significant improvement. They require carriers to explain risk scoring and to consider mitigation. But they do not require insurers to value mitigation equally, and they do not create new competition in the market.
An insurer can recognize your mitigation and still decide:
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It does not want more wildfire exposure in the region.
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It has reached its portfolio limits.
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It wants higher rates overall.
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It weighs mitigation differently than another carrier would.
The real problem is not transparency. The real problem is capacity.
Wildfire coverage for high-value homes
Reduce the risk. Expand the options.
We help homeowners reduce wildfire risk and document those improvements. We also work with carriers entering or expanding within Colorado that are willing to recognize meaningful mitigation and offer more underwriting flexibility for protected homes.
Our goal is not to replace good advisors. If you already have an insurance agent, we are happy to work alongside them. What we are here to do is make sure homeowners can reach the insurance markets that understand wildfire mitigation and are willing to reflect those efforts in a meaningful way in their underwriting.
Practically, that means a policy review and an initial market and risk assessment based on the mitigation already completed. We work primarily in specialty markets focused on wildfire risk, and can pursue options for homes requiring up to $50M in total insured value. If we are not a good fit, we will refer you to another licensed broker or agent who can serve your coverage needs.
The standard
Not every policy that would cover your home is one we would bring you.
Finding a policy and finding the right policy are different jobs. Before we bring a market to a client, we look hard at four things. Three about the carrier. One about the fit.
Financial strength
We look at ratings, reserves and reinsurance — whether a carrier is positioned to pay a total loss in a year when a great many of them happen at once. A low premium from a market we cannot get comfortable with is not a bargain we will pass along.
Commitment to the region
Some carriers write Colorado wildfire risk as a strategy. Others write it as an experiment. We ask about appetite, capacity and how long they intend to stay, because the second kind tends to leave at renewal — usually after a bad fire year, which is when you can least afford to be shopping.
Clarity in the form
We read the policy. What it pays, on what basis, and what it excludes. Replacement cost that turns out not to be replacement cost, and smoke and ash language, are where wildfire policies quietly disappoint. We would rather explain an exclusion to you now than have a carrier explain it to you later.
Matched to the property
High-value homes are underinsured by standard forms more often than they are overpriced. The coverage has to reflect what the house actually is, what it would genuinely cost to rebuild, and the mitigation actually in place.
These are our selection criteria, not a promise about anyone’s performance. What a carrier owes you is written in their policy and is theirs to honor. What we owe you is not bringing you a market we would not use ourselves.
Plainly
The hard truth about insurance and mitigation.
“Mitigation always results in premium savings.” It doesn’t, at least not directly. Some carriers offer discounts, but the real value is becoming more insurable — which is what invites competing, and often lower, quotes.
“Colorado’s transparency regulations will lower rates.” Not on their own. Capacity and competition are what reduce rates for an attractive risk.
“You need to move your insurance to RedZone.” You don’t. We can work directly with homeowners or alongside their existing broker. The goal is better coverage and more options, not ownership of the relationship.
“We secure insurance for any high-risk home.” We don’t. We specialize in high-value, high-risk homes that have completed defensible space and executed a home hardening strategy.
Assess. Reduce. Insure.
Wildfire insurance for high-value, hardened homes.
We start by understanding the property, the mitigation already completed, and the coverage challenges you are facing. From there we identify practical risk-reduction opportunities and the insurance markets willing to recognize them.
RedZone Insurance — licensed: property, casualty and surplus lines.