COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — Since 2019, the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) has conducted intensive testing on asphalt roof shingles to determine which options are best for homeowners and businesses to install.
In a state like Colorado, which sees the second most hail insurance claims each year, IBHS aims to increase awareness and consumer knowledge to help tackle spiking insurance premiums.
“It took about eight years of fieldwork to understand all the properties of hail,” said Dr. Ian Giammanco, IBHS Managing Director of Atmospheric Science. “We replicate that in our laboratory and then we go test the products. So there's a whole set of impacts that we do on these shingles.”
Dr. Giammanco said they test shingles on the three different types of damage that get produced from hail including the loss of granules, how much denting occurs, and if there was a tear in the shingle.
These are tested through a variety of methods including what Giammanco called a “sophisticated potato gun” that shoots two-inch hail at shingles.
Through this data, IBHS said it determined unbiased ratings that benefit homeowners when installing a new roof. However, Coloradans don’t appear to be rushing out to buy the best materials despite potential long-term cost benefits.
“Colorado makes up about 10% of the market share for impact-resistant shingles already, so the availability actually helps bring that cost down,” said Giammanco.
But that pales in comparison to Texas, which has the highest number of hail claims in the country and takes up 43% of the market share for impact-resistant shingles.
Carole Walker, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Association, attributed the seemingly low 10% Colorado market share to a number of factors, including awareness and affordability.
“In Colorado, many of the insurers give a discount for having hail resistant roofing products. So when we see a new list like this that crash tests for roofing products, we really need to make sure that we're shopping for those products,” said Walker. “And when we're getting a re-roof, we're asking that roofer, telling them these are the products that we want.”
Walker reiterated the point that the more people to install better roofs are likely to help keep rising home insurance premiums in check.
“The headaches of getting a re-roof and then multiple claims in our hail prone environment can result in a non-renewal from your insurance company. So, if you can even avoid one re-roof cycle because you have an impact resistant shingle, that's going to benefit you from staying with your insurance company and paying less,” said Walker.
On the legislative side, Democratic State Senator Marc Snyder said he’s working on a new bill to introduce in the next session starting in January that aims to incentivize homeowners and HOAs to consider better rated roofs.
The bill, he said, would combine a wildfire grant program with a new idea for a tax-free savings account that homeowners or HOAs could put money into for new roof claims resulting from hail damage.
Sen. Snyder, who represents the west side of El Paso County, said his ultimate hope is to end the sharp rise in home insurance premiums. But at the very least, he thinks a program like this, which he said is novel in the nation, could simply stem the rise.
He’s still workshopping the bill with various stakeholders, so he couldn’t say how the savings account money would be invested without being taxed.
“We're still working on the mechanics of this, but it would probably be the individual property owner or even an HOA who would make that decision that they wanted to put some of this money into a savings account and be ready,” said Snyder.
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