9 Best Homeowners Insurance Companies in Colorado of 2023

Your home is your most valuable asset, and a homeowners insurance policy can help protect it. This coverage offers financial security in case of damages from covered perils, such as fires or hailstorms. Without it, you might face significant out-of-pocket expenses.

Colorado's susceptibility to wildfires, tornadoes, and heavy winds makes homeowners insurance particularly important. While affordability is a priority, it's crucial to understand the coverage you need and choose a policy that suits your requirements.

Finding the best insurer can be challenging with numerous options available. To simplify your search, we've compiled a list of the top homeowners insurance companies in the industry, focusing on essential categories to help you find the ideal coverage for your Colorado home.

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Best Homeowners Insurance in Colorado

• Lemonade: Best Policy That Saves You Time
• Liberty Mutual: Best for Discounts
• Allstate: Best Policy Overall
• Branch Financial: The Best Financially Stable Policy
• State Farm: Best for Customer Service and Optional Coverages
• Chubb: Cheapest Policy for Expensive Homes
• Safeco: Best Cheapest Policy
• Progressive: Best Policy for Tornadoes
• Travelers: Best Policy for Add-Ons

Lemonade: Best Policy That Saves You Time

Lemonade trades live agents and accessible customer service for an all-AI approach, which means you only deal with the company’s highly popular website and mobile app.

All that you can do can be handled electronically. You can purchase a policy, file a claim, purchase add-ons, and many more. And since you can accomplish all these things without having to wait on hold to get a question answered, for example, Lemonade saves you a lot of time.

We all need extra time in the day and thrive on convenience.

That’s why you should choose Lemonade if you are busy. The insurer claims that it holds the world’s record for being the fastest insurance company to pay a claim.

That’s three seconds after you file the claim, which seems impossible but is true.

The AI bot runs anti-fraud algorithms to analyze the sincerity of the claim, process all details, then concludes with a quick answer on how much money you’re owed.

It’s also easy to buy extra coverage for your high-cost belongings. You can do that through the app or the site so that your high-cost belongings like jewelry, fine art, and collectible books due to accidental loss, theft, or covered peril, can be covered.

However, one drawback is that the basic policy only covers your personal property up to the policy’s limit, which is a low $1,500.

So it’s necessary to purchase add-ons to cover your belongings in full.

Read a full Lemonade home insurance review.

Liberty Mutual: Best for Discounts

Liberty Mutual has been in business for more than 110 years and offers exceptional products like auto, renters, and home and business insurance.

In Colorado, residents are more at risk from hail and hailstone damage than in other states. Colorado is one of the most unsafe states in the US due to frequent hail.

The good news is that Liberty Mutual’s standard homeowners insurance policy covers hail damage.

Liberty is best for covering hail because it has a hail action plan in addition to the standard coverage for hail for areas like Colorado, where hail occurs more frequently.

Most insurers are more likely to limit their hail coverage because hailstorms can cause significant damage to your home, and if you make a hail claim, it can be catastrophic to the insurer.

Other insurers increase the cost of your policy due to frequent hail to reflect the higher risk.

Liberty Mutual’s hail coverage is more comprehensive than other insurers and will pay to replace damages to your roof, air conditioner, HVAC systems, vents, skylights, and heating units.

Your premium may rise if you purchase additional coverage for hail, which is recommended in the industry.

However, Liberty Mutual, which already offers the most affordable rates for homeowners insurance, can offset your costs due to the many discounts it makes available to policyholders.

Some of Liberty’s numerous discounts include savings because you are claim-free for three years or get a quote from Liberty before your current insurer expires and then buy the homeowners policy from Liberty.

For your home, you can also get a discount if you bought a new home or renovated your home, or if you’ve added a new roof, which will protect it from hailstorms.

Plus, you'll get a discount if you insure up to 100% of the cost of replacing your home.

Read a full Liberty Mutual home insurance review.

Allstate: Best Policy Overall

Allstate, the most influential insurance company in the nation, has many things to offer, which is why we chose it as the “best overall.”

Allstate’s website is easy to use and offers a unique home value estimation tool to help you better understand how much coverage you need.

You can shave 5% off your premium each year you go without filing a claim.

Here’s what’s exclusive to Allstate:

• Offers a unique discount to non-smoking Colorado residents.
• Has an earthquake coverage add-on for either 10% or 25% of the dwelling limit.
• You can get $100 off your deductible if you don’t file a claim each year.
• If you do have to file a claim, you can keep your premium from increasing if you opt for Allstate “RateGuard.”
• Allstate can help cover damage or theft when you rent out your home on a vacation rental company like Airbnb.
• 24/7 customer service.

Some of the most unique and helpful discounts include:

• Responsible payment
• New home buyer
• Early signing

Many add-on coverages include:

• Identity theft restoration
• Water backup
• Scheduled personal property
• Sports equipment
• Green improvement reimbursement

Read a full Allstate homeowners insurance review.

Branch Financial: The Best Financially Stable Policy

Branch Financial is new to the scene, and yet it has already established itself as one of the most financially stable homeowners insurance companies.

Branch, which is underwritten by General Security National Insurance (GSNIC), already has an A+ rating from AM Best.

In addition, Branch has an "A" rating from Demotech, which is considered "exceptional".

The ratings from AM Best and Demotech matter when it comes to the company’s ability to pay out claims after a major catastrophe.

Thus, financial stability is very important for an insurer to have if a tornado hits an area, and all at once, homeowners are making claims after the fact.

Branch, which pioneered “instantly-bundled” home and auto insurance, continues to gain traction with rating companies.

The NAIC and BBB received no complaints from Branch.

General Security National also has not received any complaints in the last three years.

As for what Branch offers, it has many coverages that you can add to your policy as a rider.

Also, Branch covers you up to $50,000 in water backup damage coverage.

Here are a few more:

• Roof surfaces extended coverage
• Extra coverage for jewelry or sports equipment
• Physical structure, with incremental coverage
• Building code coverage

Finally, Branch prides itself on being able to bundle your home and auto insurance in as little as 30 seconds.

And it’s easy when making a claim because the insurer handles claims quickly and fairly.

State Farm: Best for Customer Service and Optional Coverages

State Farm is one of the most respected and largest insurers in the nation. It offers competitive prices, a very useful website, and the best customer service.

Customer service is a priority for State Farm, which is why it’s highly ranked by customer reviews. In addition, it received a 4/5 on the JD Power homeowners insurance survey, which means that policyholders were generally enthusiastic about their customer service experience.

State Farm homeowners insurance also has excellent coverage options that can broaden the scope of your basic policy but will put a dent in your premium.

Most of the coverage options are important to have, and there are a few that are unique in the industry.

Read a full State Farm homeowners insurance review.

Reimbursement for certain costs related to building codes or zoning laws.

Various coverages for homes under construction, including theft of building materials and liability in a temporary home.

Coverage for the breakdown of home systems, such as furnaces and air conditioning units.

Incidental business coverage for people who work from home.

Chubb: Cheapest Policy for Expensive Homes

If you own an expensive home, it can make sense to purchase the best home insurance in Colorado to cover all of your bases. On average, the most affordable coverage for $2 million homes in Colorado comes from Chubb, with an average annual premium of $8,630. Similar policies with other companies can be significantly more expensive, sometimes exceeding an average of $25,000 a year.

Chubb homeowners insurance targets wealthy people who live in expensive homes.

And yet it offers the best customer experience. Its customer service is unmatched, offers many discounts, and has several features that other insurers charge extra for.

For example. With Chubb’s HomeScan, issues in your home that you suddenly discover and need immediate attention before they can cause damage are covered.

Another is that Chubb offers replacement cost coverage as standard in its basic policy, which you often have to pay extra for with other insurers.

This means you get the full cost of your items or belongings at today’s prices after a damaging event rather than the depreciated value, which is ACV, or actual cash value.

And if your home is destroyed by a covered disaster and costs more to rebuild than anticipated, Chubb will apply for your dwelling coverage and add more to that if needed to help cover the full cost of your home.

Also, if your home is destroyed and you don’t want to use the money for a rebuild, Chubb’s “cash-out” feature allows you to walk away and gives you a reimbursement for the same amount of what it would cost to repair your house.

Safeco: Best Cheapest Policy

The Safeco insurance company, a subsidiary of Liberty Mutual, is one of the most reputable insurance companies on the market. Safeco may not be the most well-known insurance provider, but in comparison to other insurers, it offers the cheapest premium.

On average, Safeco’s standard homeowners insurance policy only costs $100 per month or $1,180 per year.

The average cost of Colorado homeowners insurance is $140 per month or $1,660 per year.

The national average cost of homeowners insurance is $110 per month or $1,310 per year.

This means that Safeco is cheaper than the state and national averages.

Safeco also excels in discounts to lower your premium, a wide range of coverage endorsements and coverage enhancements, and a straightforward claims process.

You can make a claim in many ways. You can do so online, over the phone, using the company’s 24/7 claims assistant hotline, or via video chat.

Safeco's single loss insurance deductible option stands out and is unique to the insurer.

If you bundle your Safeco homeowners insurance with other Safeco products, you’ll only pay one deductible, even if you have multiple types of claims for a single incident.

For example, if a tree on your property falls and damages both your garage and car, you’ll only need to cover the homeowners insurance deductible rather than both the home and auto deductibles.

This can save you a lot of money.

Progressive: Best Policy for Tornadoes

Colorado experiences a lot of tornadoes each year. So. It’s essential that residences have tornado coverage, which falls under the natural disaster term “high winds.”

Progressive is your best bet for adding additional coverage for high winds.

But isn’t wind covered in a standard homeowners insurance policy?

Standard homeowners insurance covers wind and hail.

However, the policy doesn’t cover high winds, which is different from winds.

Since Colorado is a state where tornadoes are common, you may need additional insurance.

Progressive offers insurance that covers high winds, which means if a tornado rips the roof off your home, you’ll be covered in full.

Progressive’s high winds coverage is available as a rider to your homeowners insurance.

But read the fine print. Some insurers will refuse you from having high wind and tornado coverage because damage from them can be catastrophic.

If the insurer doesn’t have a high financial rating, claims made after disaster strikes can be financially crippling for the insurer, especially if a tornado hits an area and residents are making claims all at once.

Travelers: Best Policy for Add-Ons

Travelers home insurance is known in the industry for its stellar reputation.

In fact, according to three years’ worth of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the company had fewer than the expected number of home insurance complaints to state regulators relative to its size.

It also has an impressive number of add-ons. The best ones include:

How We Ranked and Picked the Best Homeowners Insurance Companies in Colorado

To determine the best companies that provided homeowners insurance, we looked at several factors, including pricing, coverage options to increase your policy limits, as well as the discounts an insurer can offer that could lower your premium.

Discounts

We narrowed down our focus to those companies that had the most discounts. That was to ensure that a prospective policyholder could purchase a policy at the lowest possible rate.

We found that the multi-policy is the best discount to get because it lowers your premium in a significant way. So, we focused on companies that offered that. Most do.

Coverage

We looked at homeowners insurance policies based on how much coverage they offered.

A range of coverages is important for a company to have because it can customize a policy or tailor it to a customer’s need. Coverage can also offset policy limits so that when you make a claim, you will be reimbursed in full.

Technology

If a company’s website and app allowed you to manage most of your insurance needs electronically or if both were easy to use even for the technophobe, then that’s a company that we considered.

Customer Reviews

We looked at many sites that offered customer reviews to also narrow down our options. The ones with the most positive reviews were more favorable to us.

In particular, we looked at scores offered by JD Powers and AM Best to back up what consumers are saying about their insurers.

Price

A homeowners insurance policy shouldn’t break the bank. Pricing has to be fair, and a company should also have discounts to make a policy affordable to most people.

As such, we looked at companies that had affordable premiums. If the insurance company had a rate below the national average or below the state average, we put that company on our list.

Locations

We surveyed insurance coverage prices in Denver, Colorado Springs, Aurora, Fort Collins, and Lakewood.

Is It Mandatory to Buy Homeowners Insurance in Colorado?

Homeowners insurance isn't mandatory by law.

However, if you have a home mortgage, the lender will likely require it to protect its investment.

Even if you own your home outright, homeowners insurance can spare you from spending a lot of money on out-of-pocket costs to rebuild your home if it gets damaged due to a covered peril.

What is Covered in Homeowners Insurance?

For a basic insurance policy, here’s what it covers.

Dwelling

If your house is damaged or destroyed due to a fire or a natural disaster, or a covered event that you could not have predicted, your insurer will cover the cost of rebuilding your home.

Liability

If you cause bodily injury or property damage to another person unintentionally or through neglect, your insurance will pay for any medical bills the injured person needs, and legal fees and legal representation if you’re sued.

Medical

This policy pays if someone is injured on your property and needs medical treatment, regardless of who’s at fault. Also pays if you, a family member, or a pet like a dog injures someone elsewhere.

Personal Property

This pays to repair or replace personal belongings that are stolen or damaged in a covered peril, whether in your home or on a trip.

Loss of Use

If your home is destroyed and you can’t possibly live there due to health reasons or because it’s simply unhabitable, loss of use pays for hotel stays and having meals at restaurants.

How Much Does Homeowners Insurance Cost in Colorado?

The average cost of homeowners insurance in the nation is $1,310 per year or $110 per month.

The average cost of Colorado homeowners insurance is $140 per month or $1,660 per year.

What is the Cheapest Homeowners Insurance in Colorado?

The cheapest insurer is based on several factors.

These include the value of your home, the state, and area in which you live, particularly if you live in a safe neighborhood, your neighborhood or city crime rate, your claims history, the amount of additional coverage you buy, the deductible you choose, and what discounts you qualify for that can lower the cost of your premium.

In addition, other factors that can affect how cheap your insurer is or how low your premium will be, include:

• Your ZIP code.
• The age of your home.
• The square footage of your home.
• The features in your home, particularly if you have home security devices installed.
• Your home’s replacement cost.
• The age and condition of your roof.
• The proximity of your house to a local fire station and fire hydrant.
• The company you choose.

That said, Safeco is the cheapest overall and costs $98.25 per month or $1,179 per year.

As you can see, Safeco is cheaper than the state and national average.

Are There Ways to Reduce the Cost of Homeowners Insurance?

The biggest way to reduce the cost of your premium is to ask your insurer for discounts.

Discounts are things offered by an insurance company that can lower your premium.

Discounts are important to have if you want to save some money.

Some of the most common discounts that Colorado insurers offer include:

Multi-Policy

If you bundle your home insurance with your auto policy and both are covered by the same insurer, you’ll qualify for a discount.

Many homeowners insurance companies also sell other products like life insurance. The more you bundle, the less you will pay.

In fact, bundling is the most important discount you should get. It gives you the largest discount in comparison to other discounts. With some companies, you can save up to 15% off.

Being Claims-Free

If you don’t make a claim during a set period, you’re eligible for a discount.

Safety Features

If you live near a fire hydrant or a fire station, if your home is in a gated community, and if you have security details in your home such as alarms, security cameras, dead bolts, and fire extinguishers, you’ll get a discount.

Home Credit

If you purchase new and costly home equipment such as a refrigerator, an insurer will reduce your rate because that item will be less likely to break down.

Age

If you are 55 or older and are retired, you’ll also save.

Are There Other Ways to Lower Your Premium?

A homeowners insurance premium should not cripple you financially. It should be affordable or reasonably priced, and besides discounts, there are other ways to offset your premium cost.

Some of these include:

Shopping around

You should get insurance quotes from several insurers so you can compare rates, coverage, discounts, and additional features of each company to find the best insurance that suits your needs.

It’s recommended you should get at least 3 or 4 quotes. You can easily do that by using a company’s website.

Note that if you can’t get a quick quote online and the insurer needs to call you to give you a quote, you shouldn’t work with that company.

Having a digital interface where you can not only get a quick quote but also apply for coverages and make a claim means that you can save time.

Buying a homeowners insurance policy shouldn’t be hard to do.

It should be easy for anyone, which is why a company’s technology is an important feature for you to have.

Improve or maintain your credit score

Most homeowners insurance companies use your credit score to determine your rate.

If you have a high credit score, your premium will be lowered. This means the insurer knows you can pay on time and that you are financially stable and less likely to skip a payment.

But if you have a score lower than 679, you’ll be subject to a higher premium. This is because homeowners with lower credit are statistically more likely to file claims.

As such, the insurer will charge you a higher premium to compensate for this increased risk.

So, it’s wise to improve and maintain your credit score. You can do so by paying down credit cards, paying more than the monthly cost, and reducing your overall debt.

Remodel Your Home

If you remodel your home, you’ll get a discount.

The most popular remodels alter your home in a useful way, make it safe, and can increase the cost of your home. These include your bathroom or your kitchen.

Remodeling your bath means you will have new plumbing and that you are less likely to file a claim if it breaks down or has an overflow of water.

Increase your Deductible

The standard deductible in the home insurance industry is usually at least $500.

If you can afford to raise your deductible to $1,000, you may save as much as 25%.

The higher your deductible, the more money you can save on your premiums.

What You Should Consider Besides Cheap Premiums

Cheap homeowners insurance can save you money, but you also likely want to ensure you are purchasing adequate coverage.

Skimping on coverage to save money could leave you in a financial mess if your home is damaged or destroyed in a covered loss.

Because the standard insurance only pays up to the policy’s limit, you will most likely have to pay out-of-pocket if one of your belongings costs more than your limit.

Customer Service

You may want to factor a company’s customer service when you choose an insurer.

If you choose a home insurance company that’s known for making its customers happy, you can feel more confident that you will have a good experience.

And a friendly and helpful agent means you will have no problems if, say, you make a claim, or if you need assistance or have a question about your policy. You don’t want someone who is rushing you or talking to you using industry jargon.

To see whether previous customers have been satisfied, you can turn to JD Power, which surveys thousands of homeowners annually.

And to see how insurance companies have performed, such as how many complaints were filed against an insurer and the reasons for the complaints, check out the NAIC website, which we did when coming up with our list of top performers.

Financial Strength

Also, consider a company’s financial strength ratings into your decision.

A financially stable insurer will have enough money to pay claims promptly.

What Does Homeowners Insurance Not Cover?

A standard homeowners policy will not cover damage due to flooding, earthquakes, landslides, or infestations like bed bugs. It will also not cover everyday wear and tear or items that need to be continually maintained and were not because of your negligence.

Why is Homeowners Insurance High in Colorado?

Colorado appears on many review sites as one of the most expensive states to insure.

Colorado’s catastrophic weather conditions, including windstorms, tornadoes, snow, and hail storms are likely responsible for high premiums.

In addition, the threat of wildfires, the price of homes, and the state’s dense population contribute to the expensive rates.

So, when choosing a Colorado homeowners policy, it’s important to consider weather conditions and their associated risks, among other factors.

How to Deal with Natural Disasters in Colorado

The best home insurance companies in Colorado go out of their way to offer their policyholders coverage in consideration of the state’s high level of natural disasters.

Tornadoes

Many homeowners think that they don't need more protection because windstorms are covered in a basic policy.

However, the standard policy does not cover high winds, which results in tornadoes. So, it’s a must that policyholders purchase an add-on to protect them from high winds.

Fire

In the past year, Colorado experienced many wildfires. Because of their frequency, homeowners face detrimental fire damage, especially those who live in rural areas or who reside near forests.

The good news is that fire and its damages are covered by the basic homeowners policy.

The bad news is that the frequency of wildfires may force you to make a claim, which will increase your premium and the insurer will consider you a risk.

A wildfire policy will defend your home from wildfires, as well as provide support after a fire and during the claims process.

But there are ways to make your home more insurable.

Some are hard to do. An insurer would like you to live near a fire hydrant or a fire department so that fire damage to your home can be more contained and cause less destruction.

It’s hard because you may not live near a fire hydrant, or your neighborhood may be far away from a fire station.

But if you have smoke detectors, burglar alarms, cameras, automatic sprinkler systems, and live in a gated community, the insurer will account for that and even give you a discount for these security details.

Water damage

Flooding causes water damage. It usually comes in the spring, when melting snow causes an overflow to waterborne areas like rivers, lakes, and ponds.

Flood insurance is never covered by a standard policy.

So, even if you don’t live near a large body of water, many insurers recommend that you purchase flood insurance as an add-on or as a separate policy on top of your basic policy because 90% of US natural disasters involve flooding.

Hail damage

Colorado ranks second in the US for hail claims filed by homeowners.

Hailstones, especially large ones, can significantly damage your roof, gutters, and windows.

While hail is a covered peril for most insurers, some insurers may exclude damage caused by hail.

If that’s the case, you should speak to a company’s rep or agent to see if hail damage is covered. If it’s not, you should consider taking out additional coverage for hail.

How Much Home Insurance Do You Need?

Before you start shopping for a policy, you should consider what matters to you most.

For personal property, can you live without your expensive RH sofa?

Once you know what you need from an insurer, you may be able to narrow down your choices and customize your policy so it only reflects the coverage that you absolutely must have to protect your high-priced jewelry, for example.

So how do you determine your needs?

You should do a home inventory.

What is a Home Inventory?

A home inventory is a list of your personal belongings and how much they’re worth.

If you don’t know how much additional coverage you need to protect your personal possessions, a home inventory will help determine the cost.

In fact, an inventory is the best way to determine how much it will cost to replace your items if you need to make a claim because your property was stolen, lost, or destroyed during a covered peril.

To do a home inventory, go around your house and see what you need to protect.

If you can’t recall the price of your belongings, use an estimate, see if you have receipts, or go online to see if the item is still being sold or made to find the price.

If you can’t find the exact match, an item that is similar to yours can be used.

Doing the home inventory also makes it easier for your insurer if you need to make a claim.

So, if there is damage in your home, the insurer will know exactly how much your belongings cost.

Once you do your home inventory, only then will you be able to choose wisely in terms of coverage.

Should You Purchase Additional Coverage?

Homeowners insurance protects us from many emergencies that we couldn’t have predicted.

These are covered perils.

A covered peril is an event that the insurer agrees to reimburse you after you file a claim.

Covered perils include fire, lightning strikes, windstorms and hail, the weight of snow and ice, theft, and vandalism.

However, homeowners insurance only pays up to the policy limit when it comes to insuring your personal effects.

So, the basic policy will most likely not cover the full value of your belongings.

For example, if you have $500 in property coverage and you make a claim for an item that costs $700, you’ll have to pay the difference.

That’s why you should schedule your items or purchase add-ons so that your valuables will be covered in full.

With add-ons, homeowners can include benefits to their coverage that were previously excluded from the standard policy.

You can also get additional protection for some of your high-priced belongings like artwork, jewelry, musical instruments, and collectibles to name a few, if you schedule them.

Scheduling ensures that you’ll have full coverage for your items, like those listed above. It will raise your payout limits and reduce or even eliminate the deductible.