TESTivity

Colorado P&C Study Guide

Failed the Colorado P&C exam? There's a good chance it wasn't you.

The most common complaint from people who don't pass isn't the test — it's the study material. And the part they point to most? The state regulations: a few generic, watered-down national pages that looked nothing like the real Colorado exam. TESTivity is built the other way around. Below is a real chapter from the Colorado P&C manual — written for Colorado specifically, not national prep with a state name slapped on the cover. Read it and see the difference for yourself.

Colorado · Property & Casualty Sample chapter

Chapter 10.2.4 Colorado Insurance Regulations

Colorado P&C is shaped by one peril above all others — hail — and that’s produced a Colorado-specific consumer-protection rule the exam likes: the roof ACV disclosure. Add a straightforward fault system with a 51% bar and a state-chartered workers’ comp carrier, and you’ve got Colorado’s high-value points. Let’s work through it.

Licensing — the quick version

Colorado P&C pre-licensing is 40 hours per line, with 24 hours of CE (3 of ethics) every 2 years. Surplus lines require a separate license and a documented diligent search of the admitted market first.

Auto — fault-based, 25/50/15, MedPay offered

Colorado is a fault state — the at-fault driver’s liability pays — with no mandatory PIP. Minimum limits are 25/50/15 (C.R.S. § 10-4-619). Colorado requires insurers to offer MedPay (first-party medical coverage that pays regardless of fault — valuable in a fault state where proving fault takes time), and UM/UIM must be offered too, with a signed written rejection to decline.

Comparative fault — the 51% bar

Colorado uses a 51% bar: you recover only if your own fault is less than 51%.

Homeowners — hail country and the roof ACV rule

Colorado is one of the most hail-prone states in the country, and that drives its most distinctive P&C rule. Roofs are settled one of two ways, and the difference is huge:

  • Replacement cost (RCV): pays to replace the roof with a new one — no depreciation deducted.
  • Actual cash value (ACV): pays replacement cost minus depreciation — a 15-year-old roof can lose half its value, leaving the homeowner badly short.

Colorado law (C.R.S. § 10-4-110.8) requires insurers to clearly disclose when a policy settles roof claims on ACV. Colorado policies also commonly carry percentage hail deductibles (e.g., 1–2% of the dwelling limit) rather than a flat dollar amount.

There’s no traditional FAIR Plan in Colorado — high-risk (often wildfire-exposed) properties go to the surplus lines market.

Workers’ comp — Pinnacol

Colorado requires workers’ comp for every employer with one or more employees (no small-employer exception). The anchor of the system is Pinnacol Assurance, Colorado’s state-chartered workers’ comp carrier and market of last resort. Benefits replace 66⅔% of the pre-injury average weekly wage, with a 2-year filing deadline.

Key terms so far

Roof ACV disclosure
Colorado must disclose when roof claims settle on actual cash value (replacement cost minus depreciation).
51% bar
Colorado bars recovery at 51%+ fault (with Texas and Illinois).
Pinnacol Assurance
Colorado’s state-chartered workers’ comp carrier and market of last resort.

Cancellation and nonrenewal

Colorado homeowners nonrenewal needs 45 days notice (no reason required) — longer than Georgia’s and Texas’s 30 days, shorter than Pennsylvania’s and Illinois’s 60. In a new policy’s first 60 days, the insurer can cancel for any reason on 10 days’ notice; after that, mid-term cancellation narrows to nonpayment (10 days), or fraud, material misrepresentation, or a substantial increase in