Colorado telemarketing & SMS rules for insurance agents

Colorado sets no calling hours of its own — Parts 3 and 9 of C.R.S. title 6, article 1, contain no time-of-day rule — so the federal 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. window at the called party’s location applies (47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(1)). Colorado does run its own Colorado no-call list, administered by the Public Utilities Commission: anyone making a telephone solicitation — defined to include text messaging — to a Colorado residential or wireless subscriber must register with the no-call program and may not solicit numbers on the list (C.R.S. § 6-1-904(1)). The No-Call List Act has no insurance-agent exemption; a person selling insurance in compliance with Title 10 is excluded only from the separate Attorney General registration for commercial telephone sellers (§ 6-1-302(1)(g)).

Colorado regulates telephone solicitation under the Colorado No-Call List Act (C.R.S. §§ 6-1-901 to 6-1-908) and Prevention of Telemarketing Fraud (C.R.S. §§ 6-1-301 to 6-1-305), part of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act (C.R.S. §§ 6-1-301 to 6-1-305, 6-1-901 to 6-1-908, 6-1-112, 6-1-113; 4 CCR 723-2, Rules 2890–2899), which layers requirements on top of the federal TCPA. Federal law is a floor, not a ceiling: where the two differ, the stricter rule governs.

Last reviewed 2026-09-15.

What time can I call in Colorado?

No Colorado time-of-day rule; the federal window applies. C.R.S. §§ 6-1-301 to 6-1-306 (Prevention of Telemarketing Fraud) and §§ 6-1-901 to 6-1-908 (Colorado No-Call List Act) contain no calling-hours provision. Federal law bars telephone solicitations to a residential subscriber "before the hour of 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. (local time at the called party's location)" (47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(1)), and the Telemarketing Sales Rule sets the same window at the called person’s location (16 C.F.R. § 310.4(c)).

What consent does Colorado require before the first call or text?

Colorado has no general prior-consent requirement; it works through the no-call list. A communication is not a "telephone solicitation" if it is made with the subscriber’s prior express invitation or permission, by or on behalf of a person with whom the subscriber has an established business relationship, or within 30 days after the subscriber contacted a business to inquire about a potential purchase (or until the subscriber asks that no further calls be made, whichever is first) (C.R.S. § 6-1-903(10)(b)). An established business relationship must have been formed through a voluntary two-way communication on the basis of an application, purchase, ongoing contractual agreement or commercial transaction, must not have been terminated by either party, and must currently exist or have existed within the preceding 18 months (§ 6-1-903(7)(a)). Separately, since September 1, 2005, a person commits an unlawful telemarketing practice by knowingly listing a cellular telephone number in a directory for a commercial purpose without the person’s affirmative written, oral or electronic consent, or by using a scanning device or other electronic means to identify a cellular number and make a commercial telephone solicitation to it, unless the solicitation relates to a preexisting commercial relationship (§ 6-1-304(4)).

Does Colorado treat texting differently from calling?

Yes. For the No-Call List Act, "telephone solicitation" means "any voice, telefacsimile, graphic imaging, or data communication, including text messaging communication over a telephone line or through a wireless telephone" for the purpose of encouraging the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods or services (C.R.S. § 6-1-903(10)(a)), whether it comes from a live operator, automatic dialing and recorded message equipment, or other means (§ 6-1-903(10)(c)). The Colorado no-call list and its registration requirement therefore cover sales texts.

Does Colorado have its own do-not-call list?

Yes. "The Colorado no-call list program is hereby created" and is administered by the Public Utilities Commission through a designated agent (C.R.S. § 6-1-905(1)–(2)). No person or entity may make or cause to be made a telephone solicitation to a residential or wireless subscriber in Colorado whose number and zip code are on the Colorado no-call list (§ 6-1-904(1)(a)). To the extent federal law allows, the designated agent must ensure the list includes the portion of the national do-not-call database that relates to Colorado (§ 6-1-905(3)(c)). Telephone solicitors must update their copies of the Colorado no-call list, a conforming consolidated list, or a list from a conforming list broker within 30 days after the beginning of every calendar quarter (§ 6-1-904(4)).

Do I need to register to solicit in Colorado?

Yes, in two separate systems. (1) No-call list registration: any person or entity that makes a telephone solicitation to a Colorado residential or wireless subscriber must register with the no-call program (§ 6-1-904(1)(b)). The PUC sets an annual fee on a sliding scale; persons or entities with fewer than five employees pay no fee, and the maximum is charged only to those with more than 1,000 employees (§ 6-1-905(3)(b)(II); 4 CCR 723-2, Rule 2892(a)–(b)). House Bill 26-1326, signed May 29, 2026 and effective August 12, 2026, raised the statutory cap on that fee from $500 to $1,000 and directs the PUC to set a separate fee for conforming list brokers by rule; PUC Rule 2892(b) still states a maximum of $500. (2) Commercial telephone seller registration: a commercial telephone seller must register with the Attorney General at least ten days before conducting business in Colorado, with a filing fee of no more than $250 for registration and $100 for renewal; registration lasts one year (§ 6-1-303(1)–(2)). A person selling insurance in compliance with Title 10 is not a commercial telephone seller (§ 6-1-302(1)(g)).

Are licensed insurance agents exempt in Colorado?

Only from the Attorney General’s commercial telephone seller rules. Section 6-1-302(1)(g) excludes from "commercial telephone seller" "A person selling insurance, as defined in section 10-1-102 (12), C.R.S., in compliance with the requirements of title 10, C.R.S." That lifts the Part 3 registration with the Attorney General (§ 6-1-303) and the unlawful telemarketing practices in § 6-1-304(1), which apply to commercial telephone sellers. It does not lift § 6-1-304(4) (cellular-number listing and scanning), which applies to any "person." The Colorado No-Call List Act (§§ 6-1-901 to 6-1-908) contains no insurance exemption: an insurance agent making telephone solicitations, including texts, to Colorado subscribers must register with the no-call program, scrub against the Colorado no-call list, and keep caller ID unblocked (§ 6-1-904(1), (3)), subject only to the general exclusions for prior express invitation or permission, established business relationships and recent inquiries (§ 6-1-903(10)(b)).

What are the penalties in Colorado?

A violation of the No-Call List Act is a deceptive trade practice under C.R.S. § 6-1-105(1), enforceable under §§ 6-1-110, 6-1-112 and 6-1-113, but no state enforcement action may be brought for fewer than three violations per month (§ 6-1-906(1)). In a state action, the civil penalty is up to $20,000 for each violation, with each consumer or transaction a separate violation, or up to $50,000 per violation committed against an elderly person, with each elderly person a separate violation (§ 6-1-112(1)(a), (c), as amended in 2025). A residential subscriber who receives an unlawful telephone solicitation may bring a private action (§ 6-1-113(1)(a)) and recover the greater of actual damages, $500, or three times actual damages if bad faith conduct is shown by clear and convincing evidence, plus costs and reasonable attorney fees (§ 6-1-113(2)). It is not a violation if the person otherwise fully complied with Part 9 and had written practices and procedures in place beforehand to prevent violating solicitations, or if the violation resulted from a transcription error or technical defect in the list as received (§ 6-1-906(2)). Under Part 3, conducting business as an unregistered commercial telephone seller after written notice of noncompliance from the Attorney General or a district attorney is a class 1 misdemeanor, and a person who violates the cellular-number rule in § 6-1-304(4) is liable to the phone’s owner for consequential damages, costs, attorney fees and a penalty of $300 to $500 for a first offense and $500 to $1,000 for later offenses (§ 6-1-305(1)(a), (c)).

Controlling statute

Colorado No-Call List Act (C.R.S. §§ 6-1-901 to 6-1-908) and Prevention of Telemarketing Fraud (C.R.S. §§ 6-1-301 to 6-1-305), part of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act — C.R.S. §§ 6-1-301 to 6-1-305, 6-1-901 to 6-1-908, 6-1-112, 6-1-113; 4 CCR 723-2, Rules 2890–2899

Other things that change the answer

A person or entity making telephone solicitations to Colorado subscribers may not knowingly use any method to block or circumvent the subscriber’s caller identification service when its service or equipment can display the number (§ 6-1-904(3)). House Bill 26-1426 (2026), effective August 12, 2026, rewords § 6-1-904(1)(a) and § 6-1-905(3)(b) without changing the no-call prohibition. The PUC’s no-call rules (4 CCR 723-2, Rules 2890–2899) apply to the designated agent, wireless providers and local exchange providers and set the registration-fee sliding scale (Rule 2892(b) still lists a $500 maximum); Rules 2890–2894 contain no calling-hours rule, and Rules 2895–2899 are reserved.

Sources

• Colorado Revised Statutes 2025, Title 6 (Parts 3 and 9 of article 1; §§ 6-1-112, 6-1-113) — Office of Legislative Legal Servicesprimary source
• Colorado Revised Statutes 2024, Title 6 (PDF)primary source
• House Bill 26-1326 (2026) — signed May 29, 2026; effective Aug. 12, 2026 (amends § 6-1-905(3)(b)(II))primary source
• House Bill 26-1426 (2026) — effective Aug. 12, 2026 (amends §§ 6-1-904(1)(a), 6-1-905(3)(b))primary source
• 4 CCR 723-2 — PUC Telecommunications Rules (Colorado No-Call List, Rules 2890–2899)primary source
• 47 CFR 64.1200 — Delivery restrictions (eCFR)primary source
• 16 CFR 310.4 — Abusive telemarketing acts or practices (eCFR)primary source

How APEX enforces these rules on every send

APEX evaluates each outbound message and call before it leaves the platform. Quiet hours are applied in the contact's local time rather than the agent's, DNC scrubbing runs against federal, state, internal, and litigator lists, and every allow-or-block decision is written to an immutable audit log. See security & compliance for the full guardrail set.

Configuring a platform correctly does not by itself make a campaign lawful. You remain responsible for your consent records and your calling practices.