Colorado's Insurance Commissioner and its Division of Insurance has adopted an emergency regulation that addresses language requirements for insurance policy documents for all insurance companies selling commercial automobile, personal automobile, homeowners and renters insurance policies. 

The passing of House Bill 23-1004 amended Colorado Revised Statutes to amend and add Sections 10-1-136 and 10-3-1119. The Division states that the prompt adoption of the regulation is necessary to preserve public health and safety, and allows insurance carriers enough time to comply with the requirements of the Bill before its effective date of January 1, 2024. 

Section 10-1-136 requires that a non-english language policy issued by an insurer must be translated correctly, and be affirmed by a certified translator that the policy is correctly translated. 

Section 10-3-1119 requires that insurers offer certain documents to an insured in the same language that the insurer used in any advertisement. The documents include:

  • The application for the insurance policy
  • Any written coverage rejections, waivers, exclusions, and disclosures required by law
  • The insurance policy and any forms, explanation of benefits, and other policy or coverage-related documents

Insurers must also offer an applicant a form to select their language of choice for the documents. If an insurer does not comply with these requirements, the policy is voidable at the insured's election. 

The Division clarifies that a producer, customer service representative, or external translation services representative that speaks a language other than English, or displays a sign in a language other than English, does not constitute an advertisement as relates to the provisions of Section 10-3-1119, and would therefore not be subject to the requirements of that statute. They also state that the section that says, "other policy or coverage related documents," is ambiguous, but their interpretation is that its meaning is limited to coverage rejections or exclusions.

The emergency regulation can be found here.