More and more homeowners associations in Colorado’s mountain communities are rewriting their policies to ban the use of gas grills by residents as insurance companies increasingly say they won’t insure HOAs that allow residents to use gas grills on their decks or balconies.
“It is going to impact tens of thousands of people who live in condo associations,” said David Firmin, an attorney whose law firm represents some 2,500 HOAs, primarily in the mountains.
He says the move began six to nine months ago as insurance companies began to look for ways to reduce their risks, especially in high fire zones like Colorado’s mountains. The insurance industry has been reacting in part to the Marshall Fire and the massive losses caused by the fire, along with the Maui fire. He says in the last six weeks, he has been rewriting rules for an average of ten HOAs per week to ban the use of gas grills. He believes in the next six months, he will likely rewrite rules for 500 to 600 mountain HOAs with similar wording, prohibiting the use of gas grills.
The insurance industry estimates that on a national basis, outdoor grills cause about 6,000 fires and $35 million in damage every year. Farmers Insurance estimates that grill fires cost the company $32 million in losses since 2020. Nick Strong, a commercial insurance risk manager in Steamboat Springs, said he has been warning HOA managers they will have to ban individual gas grills or find themselves without insurance coverage.
Nick Strong, a commercial insurance risk manager in Steamboat Springs, said he has been warning HOA managers they will have to ban individual gas grills or find themselves without insurance coverage.
Strong said he is informing HOA managers that for their 2025 insurance renewals, they will have to institute new guidelines prohibiting anything with an open flame like gas grills or fire pits. He is planning to issue a notice in early June to HOA managers saying, “By 2025, many (if not all) carriers will require that prohibitions be in place as part of the governing documents on the use of gas grills or similar devices (i.e. open flame) on any balcony, under any overhanging portion or within 10 feet of any structure or overhang. Many carriers already have this requirement for eligibility/loss control in place.”
“By 2025, many (if not all) carriers will require that prohibitions be in place as part of the governing documents on the use of gas grills or similar devices (i.e. open flame) on any balcony, under any overhanging portion or within 10 feet of any structure or overhang. Many carriers already have this requirement for eligibility/loss control in place.” If townhome and condo HOAs decline to abide by the new requirements, they will likely have to seek insurance for their communities on the secondary insurance market where premiums will run ten to 30 times higher than what they are currently paying.