Inconvenient or uninsurable? Unfortunately, this is becoming more common with HOA insurance policies in high fire risk areas like Colorado and other Western U.S. states. HOAs are facing soaring fire protection costs or being dropped due to "fire risk."

Recently, a client's HOA faced a renewal quote increase of over $8,000. Upon investigation, we were able to offer an alternative quote for $4,000, contingent on residents removing grills from balconies. While inconvenient, relocating the grill to the garage can result in significant savings as it mitigates potential fire damage to a building.

A less inconvenient option, and a small cost to the homeowners vs. insurance increases, is moving to electric grills and smokers. If you think that might compromise flavor, as a retired culinary institute trained chef I can assure you that you will never notice a difference in flavor of what you’re grilling from gas to electric.

So why the fire risk? Take any good steak, burger, or chicken with skin, all of which will likely have a good amount of fat/marbling.  When left unattended, the flames can catch the drip pan on fire, creating a really bad situation if close to a building.

Even though residents might hesitate, the reality is that the situation is only going to get worse, and greater risk entails higher costs. Evaluating values in relation to cost is essential in insurance decisions. Instead of an immediate "no," consider asking "why not" or "how can we?"