Recent Hailstorm May Be Colorado’s Most Expensive

With more than 150,000 car insurance claims and 50,000 homeowners insurance claims estimated to be filed—the monster hailstorm that pounded Colorado’s Front Range on May 8th is on pace to be Colorado’s most expensive insured catastrophe. The Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association is estimating the preliminary insurance losses for the hailstorm at approximately $1.4 billion. This storm would surpass the $845.5 million July 20, 2009 storm and the July 11, 1990 storm, the most expensive in adjusted costs for today’s dollars. Golf ball and baseball-sized hail damaged homes, cars and businesses when storms swept across the Front Range during the late afternoon and early evening hours. The largest hail pelted areas west of Denver, including Wheat Ridge, Golden and Lakewood.

“The enormous size of the hail hitting densely populated areas of the Denver-Metro during rush hour has contributed to the magnitude of damage caused by this storm,” says Carole Walker, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association. “Add to that Colorado’s population boom, escalating costs to repair high-tech cars and more expensive homes, the insurance price tag on our hailstorms can be expected to continue to rise.”

The chart below compares the costs of past hailstorms in Colorado.

According to the association, the estimate is preliminary and based on the majority of the Colorado insurance company market share reporting available data.