Colorado Homes Enterprise and Insurance Restitution Changes

The Colorado General Assembly passed legislation affecting insurers and their insureds in its recent 2026 legislative session. This article discusses HB26-1017, enacted to address insurance company victim restitution payments, and SB26-155, which creates a new government-owned enterprise to collect fees from insurance companies to, among other things, help address the costs of wind and hail damage claims.

2026 Law Affecting Insurers and Insured

HB26-1017: Criminal Restitution Prohibited for Insurers

Existing law allowed insurers of a victim of a crime to receive restitution payments in criminal cases. This happened when an insurer incurred a loss arising from a contractual relationship with a victim, such as paying out an insurance claim to a victim of a crime. HB26-1017 clarifies the circumstances under which insurers may receive restitution payments in criminal cases. To that end, the new law prohibits insurers (other than workers’ compensation insurers) from receiving victim restitution payments. Insurers may only receive restitution payments in criminal cases when the insurer itself is a victim of fraud or their property is damaged or stolen through a criminal act. However, insurers are not prohibited from pursuing a civil action against offenders for losses. HB26-1017 also provides that a court may award a victim restitution for a deductible amount under the victim’s insurance policy.

HB26-1017 takes effect on August 12, 2026* and is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 18-1.3-601 to 18-1.3-603.

SB26-155: Increase Access Homeowner’s Insurance Enterprise 

SB26-155 creates a government-owned enterprise called the Strengthen Colorado Homes Enterprise (Enterprise) for the primary purpose of imposing fees on insurance companies that offer multi-peril homeowners’ insurance policies in Colorado and that are subject to certain filing requirements with the state Division of Insurance in the Department of Regulatory Agencies.

The fees are to be used to provide business services to insurers that pay the fee to:

• Reduce insurer losses and administrative expenses due to hail damage claims by providing grants to Colorado homeowners to retrofit residential property with resilient roof systems;
• Identify target areas for installation of resilient roof systems;
• Set standards for resilient roof systems and award workforce training grants for installing and certifying resilient roof systems;
• Create codes of conduct for roofing contractors to ensure roofs are properly and appropriately installed;
• Evaluate roofing protocols to ascertain if the protocols meet science-based, certifiable standards;
• Conduct or contract with a third-party to conduct a study to analyze insurance risk in high-risk wildfire areas; and
• Improve market stability.

The new law sets the fee structure used to determine the amount of the fee and prohibits insurers from passing the cost of the fee to their policyholders as a surcharge.

SB26-155 also creates a grant program to provide grants to Colorado homeowners to retrofit residential property with resilient roof systems to reduce insurer losses due to things like hail and windstorms and sets forth the rules for administering the program. The Enterprise Board will award grants to eligible homeowner applicants. A homeowner awarded a grant must:

• Have an insurable residential property located in Colorado that is covered by a homeowner’s insurance policy;
• Obtain all permits required by law for installation or retrofitting;
• Comply with all applicable building codes;
• Arrange and pay for inspections required by law and the terms of the grant program;
• Construct a roof that meets resilient roof system standards; and
• Select a contractor licensed in the state that:
  • Is a member of a professional association that promotes best practices and ethical behaviors in the roofing industry;
  • Attests that the contractor does not waive deductibles and agrees to repair, rather than replace, roofs when appropriate in accordance with rules adopted by the Enterprise Board; and
  • Meets any other criteria established by the Board.

A contractor that is awarded bids and receives grant money from the grant program is prohibited from waiving homeowner’s insurance deductibles.

The Enterprise must also use fee revenue to conduct or contract with a third-party to conduct a study to analyze insurance risk in high-risk wildfire areas of the state, including an analysis of market competition in those areas and the impact of a high-risk program on the potential losses in the high-risk wildfire areas of the state and the availability of homeowner’s insurance in those areas.

After January 1, 2027, insurers offering multi-peril homeowner’s policies must submit an annual filing to the state that shows the number of policies in force, the number of homes that have installed a resilient roof system, and the frequency and severity of wind and hail claims with and without a resilient roof system.

SB26-155 takes effect on August 12, 2026* and is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. §§10-4-2001 to 10-4-2006 and 10-4-405.

What Next?

Homeowners should watch for rules and policies adopted by the Enterprise as required by SB26-155, and eligible homeowners should consider applying for a resilient roof system grant once the program is up and running.

Our Team

BHGR’s Insurance Group represents individuals and businesses in all aspects of insurance coverage review and consultation as well as insurance litigation. If you have questions about these new laws and how they may affect you or your business, contact us today.

*All bills discussed in this article that are effective on August 12, 2026 are, in fact, effective on that date unless a referendum petition related to the new law is timely filed and voted on in the November 2026 general election. Should that happen, the new law will take effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor.