Colorado Gov. Jared Polis hopes to wrestle down the state’s high auto insurance rates over the next two years with a newly unveiled slate of strategies — including deploying more speed cameras, ramping up auto theft prevention efforts and targeting uninsured motorists.
Polis announced his plan Thursday. If the effort proves successful, he hopes to see Colorado drop from No. 5 in national rankings for most expensive full-coverage plans, according to Bankrate, to No. 10 in the next two years. Based on 2025 statistics, that would equal about $275 in savings per year.
Polis said in an interview before the plan’s unveiling that he was “shocked” to learn Colorado’s insurance premiums were the fifth highest in the nation. He convened a variety of state departments — Public Safety, Transportation, Natural Resources, Revenue and Insurance — to make reducing the rate a priority. The goal is to do so administratively, rather than by proposing any new laws.
“There’s not one silver bullet,” Polis said. “It’s a comprehensive strategy.”
Anyone who’s shopped for car insurance lately wouldn’t be surprised at the state’s high rates, though. According to Bankrate, the average annual premium for a 40-year-old driver with a clean driving history and good credit is $3,233 for full coverage. Bare-bones minimal coverage comes in at an average $569 a year.
Polis highlighted two pieces of the strategy as likely to have the greatest effect on lowering rates: Fighting auto thefts and preventing hail damage.
The state already saw a 25% year-over-year decrease in reported auto thefts between 2023 and 2024, an effort that Polis hailed. Over a larger span, from March 2022 and March 2025, thefts decreased by 63%, according to the governor’s office, as agencies attempted to address the state’s status as having among the highest rates of auto theft in the nation.
Insurance rates typically lag a year behind the data used to set them, such as theft rates, meaning the decrease in thefts may not be fully reflected in rates yet.
Polis said he wanted to continue “going hard” after thefts and has a goal of an additional 20% reduction. He plans to lean on the statewide Colorado Automobile Theft Prevention Authority for education, information sharing and enforcement to reach that.
He does not, however, have plans for a statewide network of license plate readers like the controversial Flock cameras used in Denver and a few other communities.
Polis also wants to bolster state and local reporting on looming hail threats. The Front Range and Eastern Plains, in particular, rank among the riskiest areas in the country for the extreme weather events.
While the state can’t control the weather, Polis said it can help get the word out to help people protect themselves and their vehicles from hail damage. His administration will increase training between Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management staff and county emergency management staff and build out early warning systems.
Polis also wants law enforcement to target uninsured motorists. In 2023, the Insurance Research Council estimated that 19.7% of Colorado drivers were uninsured, compared to the national average of 15.4%. The governor is directing the DMV to make it easier for law enforcement to identify if drivers are compliant with state insurance requirements.
In the plan unveiled Thursday, state officials acknowledge that many uninsured motorists cite high insurance costs as a barrier.
The state plans to update its online tool to help people find discounted rates to make coverage more affordable. Polis said the combined efforts in the new strategy should further lower rates for all Coloradans.
“The auto insurance rates through these other actions will inherently help people to afford insurance,” Polis said. “You should not drive if you’re not insured. Through aligning all these actions together, insurance will be more affordable in one year or two years.”
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