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April 29, 2019
- Wildfire, flood, hail, tornadoes-Mother Nature's devastating calling cards that signal Colorado's peak season for severe weather and wildfire has arrived. That's why Ready Colorado is launching an awareness effort throughout May to remind Coloradans to get their homes, cars and businesses "insurance-ready" for the state's top perils. The financial preparedness campaign coincides with the Governor's proclamation of May's Colorado Wildfire Awareness Month.
"We anticipate and prepare for these disaster threats, along with community response and recovery-especially during the summer months," says Mike Willis, Director of the Colorado Office of Emergency Management. "However, these steps can never completely mitigate the effects of a disaster on a family or business therefore it is also important that Coloradans take proactive steps to protect themselves by making sure they are properly insured."
"Property owners and drivers should review insurance policies to better understand how their insurance works and that they have the right coverage in place when disaster strikes," urges Colorado Insurance Commissioner Michael Conway. "For example, standard homeowners, renters and business insurance excludes flood damage and there is a 30-day coverage waiting period for separate flood policies to take effect. That is of particular concern in certain areas in Colorado where the flood risk is heightened to dangerous levels due to melting snow pack and wildfire burn scars."
Each week of May @READYColorado will spotlight financial preparedness on a top Colorado peril: Week #1: Wildfire; Week #2: Flood; Week #3: Hail; Week #4: Wind/Tornado; Week #5 Fraud and No Coverage: Insurance Pitfalls and Scams-with a social media push using #GetInsuredCO and for disaster fraud awareness #NoRoofScams.
"Colorado has been in the eye of the catastrophe storm-experiencing year after year of record-breaking hailstorms, devastating wildfires and increased threat for flood and mudslides," says Carole Walker, Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association. "Colorado's population boom, escalating costs to repair high-tech cars, more expensive home repair costs and increased volatility of storms are all contributing to skyrocketing insurance claims. So, while we can't control Mother Nature, we can join forces to raise Coloradans' public awareness on how to be better financially prepared and mitigate property against wildfire risk."
Key Partner Links & Resources
Colorado Division of Insurance, part of the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA):
Visit
AskDORA.colorado.gov
and find "Insurance" in the topic areas. Contact the Division at 303-894-7490 / 800-930-3745 /
[email protected]
Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association:
Log on to
www.rmiia.org
for more consumer insurance information. Follow RMIIA on
Facebook
and
Twitter
for the latest insurance and safety news.
No Roof Scams Campaign:
A group of nonprofit, government and business organizations are working together to fight roofing contractor fraud in Colorado with an annual public education campaign called No Roof Scams. The campaign's goal is to sound an alarm during severe weather season about the spike in roofing fraud and arm Colorado homeowners with information to protect themselves against being victimized by roofing scams. Help us spread the word by using #NoRoofScams and sharing anti-fraud advice, resources and messages.
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