November 2026

From Hail to Wildfire: How States are Incentivizing Home Resilience

Colorado’s 2026 Senate Bill 155 hail mitigation grant program reflects a broader nationwide push to strengthen homes through resilience incentives, helping homeowners reduce losses and manage rising insurance costs.

This blog will answer the following questions:

Why are hail losses driving homeowners’ insurance premiums (and overall rates) so high in Colorado?
What does Colorado’s Senate Bill 155 (Increase Access Homeowner’s Insurance Enterprise) do, and who is it designed to help?
Why are states focusing on resiliency measures now to stabilize insurance availability and affordability?
What other state programs should homeowners watch (California, Montana, Oklahoma, Utah, South Carolina, and Massachusetts), and what risks are they targeting?
What can homeowners do right now — before new laws or funding take effect — to reduce risk and avoid coverage surprises at claim time?

In Colorado, the clink of pebble-sized hail falling on roofs may be a familiar sound to residents, but it’s not a welcome one. The state has been plagued by costly hailstorms, which have pushed homeowners’ premiums higher and kept insurance rates among the top in the nation.

But this June, the state legislature took action by passing Senate Bill 155, known as the Increase Access Homeowner’s Insurance Enterprise. The bill was signed into law this summer and creates a special grant program designed to help Colorado homeowners pay to replace their roofs with hail-resistant materials.

The idea is to incentivize homeowners to retrofit or build with more resilient materials that better withstand the perils of the mountainous West, chief among them hail. It also calls on insurers to recognize resilient roofing materials, track the number of claims filed by homeowners with such roofing, and pay a 0.5% fee on all policies to fund the hail mitigation grant program.

Innovative bills like this are legislators' attempts to address the insurance challenges facing their states. And while Colorado may be one of the first states to pioneer a program of this kind for hail, other state legislatures are exploring ways to stabilize the insurance market and are eyeing resiliency measures and incentives.

Grants, Premium Discounts, and Better Access to Data

Across the country, three main mechanisms are being explored:

grant programs,
premium discounts that recognize resiliency measures, and
greater access to data for homeowners.

In fact, Colorado’s hail program is likely modeled on the Strengthen Alabama Homes program, which funded small grants to help homeowners fortify their homes and reduced claim frequency after hurricanes. A University of Alabama study found that homes built to Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) FORTIFIED standards cut claim severity by 15%–40% and reduce loss frequency by at least 55%. Alabama now has more than 50,000 homes built to the standard, and nationwide, FORTIFIED has surpassed 100,000 homes. The program is widely considered the gold standard in statewide resiliency mitigation and the “most FORTIFIED state in the country.”

Real-World Resiliency Efforts by States

California has a unique program aimed at home hardening and defensible space in rural regions of the state. It’s called the California Wildfire Mitigation Program and may use mitigation funding to support retrofits like ember-resistant vents or defensible space. It first began as a pilot in 2019 and has since expanded to six counties.

Montana enacted measures that allow insurers to reward homeowners for mitigation actions related to wildfire, wind, hail, and more, and require insurers using wildfire risk scores in underwriting or rating to provide consumers access to key information about those scores upon request, improving transparency.

Oklahoma’s insurance department has expanded Strengthen Oklahoma Homes, offering grants of up to $10,000 to help qualifying homeowners upgrade to more storm-resilient roofing standards. Oklahoma moved quickly from pilot to statewide availability in 2026, tying grant dollars directly to a verified FORTIFIED Roof standard.

South Carolina and Massachusetts are emphasizing consumer-facing rules, including clearer disclosures about coverage options (such as earthquake coverage) and expanding or modernizing private-market insurance options for flood, alongside broader efforts to improve rate-setting transparency.

Utah’s HB 48 connects wildfire risk reduction with a statewide approach to WUI mapping and mitigation. It also addresses insurer communications, including added detail tied to cancellation and nonrenewal decisions for certain wildfire-risk properties and information supporting large wildfire-related premium increases, as outlined in the bill’s implementation guidance shared by local governments.

Next Steps for Homeowners in Peril-Prone Areas

Many of these resilience programs are still new. It will take time to see which approaches deliver the strongest results, whether that means grants, insurance incentives, stronger building standards, or better access to risk data. Even so, the direction these programs are moving in is clear. More and more states are launching pilots, dedicating funding, and looking for practical ways to reduce losses from hail, wind, hurricanes, and wildfires.

But you don’t need to wait for new laws or new funding to take control of your risk profile. If you own a home in a catastrophe-prone area, take a fresh look at your coverage and your property risk. Start with the basics: your roof condition and materials, your deductible structure, your limits, and any gaps that could surface at claim time. Then consider mitigation improvements that make sense for your home and budget.

Building Back Better

After the devastating 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, some homeowners in the Pacific Palisades are considering rebuilding with non-combustible materials. Those options may include steel or concrete framing or rebuilding with traditional wood-framing, but doing everything else right with the home or building with RSG 3-D’s steel and concrete panels. Read more about how some hope the Palisades will soon build back better in the New York Post.

Homeowners wishing to rebuild resiliently are considering the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety’s (IBHS) guidance:

Class A fire-rated roof
Flame and ember-resistant vents
Noncombustible gutters and downspouts
Five-foot noncombustible zone around their home
Additional protections like dual-pane tempered-glass windows, enclosed eaves, noncombustible decks, and fire-resistant doors.

Work with a Broker Who Understands Resiliency

If you’d like support understanding your risk and coverages, reach out. We are closely tracking legislative actions across the country, shaping the conversation, and are well connected to stakeholders working to bring resilience and mitigation efforts to communities. Our personal risk advisors are available to help you understand your existing coverages and overall risk profile, prioritize improvements, and understand possible trade-offs before you make changes. Schedule your complimentary risk review today.

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From Hail to Wildfire: How States are Incentivizing Home Resilience

This blog will answer the following questions:

Grants, Premium Discounts, and Better Access to Data

Real-World Resiliency Efforts by States

Next Steps for Homeowners in Peril-Prone Areas

Building Back Better

Work with a Broker Who Understands Resiliency

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Brad Sawyer

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