The Colorado House of Representatives approved legislation that, if enacted, would expand the way insurance companies handle wildfire losses in the state.

House Bill 1111 seeks to increase the amount of lost property insurance providers have to cover upfront and extend the timeframe victims have to rebuild their homes. The proposed changes would only apply to future declared fire disasters, which would not help victims of recent wildfires.

This effort comes after Coloradans suffered the state’s most destructive wildfire in history in December, the Marshall fire, which destroyed more than 1,000 Boulder County homes. Bill sponsor Rep. Judy Amabile said she’s been working on the legislation since before the Marshall fire, inspired by the East Troublesome fire, the second-largest wildfire in state history which burned 193,812 acres in Grand County in October 2020.

“After the fires and devastation our communities have experienced, it is clear that we need to update our laws so that future victims of catastrophic fires receive the insurance payouts they’re owed,” said Amabile, D-Boulder. “By passing this bill, victims of fires will face fewer barriers to file and receive their claims for lost property and living expenses.”

The House passed the bill in a 54-9 vote on Wednesday, moving it to the state Senate for consideration in the coming weeks.

All nine of the representatives who opposed the bill are Republicans. Some, such as Highlands Ranch Republican Rep. Kevin Van Winkle, said they are unsure if the bill would properly address the insurance issues that wildfire victims face.

Under the bill, insurance providers would be required to cover at least 65% of the value of lost property upfront. Current law only requires 30% to be covered without the victims creating an inventory of their lost property, a process victims called unnecessarily difficult and traumatizing.

Jon Pratt, who lost his home during the East Troublesome fire, said he was forced to document every item in his home – including every item’s age, condition, cost, where they were purchased and proof of purchase. After he finished, he said it still took over a year for him to settle his claim with an insurance company after the latter offered him a payment that was 50% of what they ended up settling on.

“We’ve been put through hell. It took us eight months – my wife crying again and again and again – to document everything,” Pratt said during the public hearing for the bill. “4-ounce mustard, one full in the cabinet, one half-full in the refrigerator. Salt. Pepper. $1 items all the way up to $80,000 items. Then you submit it, and they don’t pay you.”

The bill would also require insurance companies to provide additional time for wildfire victims to rebuild their homes, covering victims’ living expenses and offering a primary point of contact.

Currently, insurance companies only give victims 12 months to rebuild. Under the bill, victims would get a minimum of 24 months with two six-month extension opportunities. Victims could also rebuild in a different location or buy a new home instead.

Bob Hughes, a consultant of the Grand County Builders Association, called the current 12-month time limit “virtually impossible” due to shortages of housing, contractors and building materials in areas devastated by wildfires. Hughes said not one home out of the 366 destroyed in Grand County was rebuilt in 12 months.