Short version: Since 2022, every insurer writing homeowner policies in California has had to file wildfire-mitigation discounts with the Department of Insurance, and the state told them exactly what to discount. The list is called Safer from Wildfires. It has ten items. Most Santa Rosa Valley homes already qualify for two or three of them and nobody has asked.
Where the list comes from
The California Department of Insurance, CAL FIRE, the Office of Emergency Services and the Public Utilities Commission agreed on a single framework in early 2022. A regulation followed that requires insurers to recognize these actions in their pricing, to tell you your wildfire risk score on request, and to give you a way to appeal it. The full text is on the Department of Insurance’s Safer from Wildfires page.
The nine property-level actions
- Class-A fire-rated roof. Asphalt shingle, concrete or clay tile, metal, slate. Most valley homes built or re-roofed since the 1990s already have one. Check the permit or the shingle wrapper if you still have it.
- Five-foot ember-resistant zone, including fencing. The same Zone 0 the state just made regulation: no combustible mulch, no shrubs against the wall, and a noncombustible section where any fence meets the house. This is task 1 on Start Here, and it costs nothing but a weekend.
- Ember- and fire-resistant vents. Sixteenth- to eighth-inch metal mesh over every attic, foundation and eave vent, or listed ember-resistant vents. Task 3. About $40–80 in materials.
- Six inches of noncombustible material at the bottom of exterior walls. Where siding meets the ground: stucco, fiber-cement, brick, stone or concrete for the first six vertical inches. Stucco homes already comply.
- Enclosed eaves. Soffits closed with noncombustible or ignition-resistant material so embers can’t lodge in open rafter bays.
- Upgraded windows. Multi-pane glass, or shutters. Most double-pane replacement windows qualify.
- Cleared vegetation, weeds and debris from under decks. Gravel, concrete or bare soil underneath; nothing stored there.
- Combustible sheds and outbuildings moved at least 30 feet from the house. Or replaced with a metal shed.
- Defensible space compliance. The state’s Zone 1 and Zone 2 standards — 5 to 30 feet and 30 to 100 feet — as inspected by CAL FIRE or Ventura County Fire.
The one community-level action
Being in a recognized Firewise USA® community (or a Fire Risk Reduction Community on the Board of Forestry’s list). Six of the valley’s eight neighborhoods are recognized, and each one’s certificate is on its community page: find yours and download the PDF. If your street isn’t in a recognized community yet, here is what it takes.
How to actually get the discount
Insurers do not apply these automatically. The sequence that works:
- Ask for your wildfire risk score in writing. The regulation requires them to provide it, along with what would lower it. Email is fine; keep the reply.
- Send evidence. Your Firewise certificate, dated photos of the five-foot zone and the vents, the roofing permit or invoice. A free Fire Safe Council assessment report is the single most useful document because it is third-party and uses the same vocabulary.
- Ask for the mitigation discounts by name — “Safer from Wildfires property-level and community-level discounts” — and ask for the new premium in writing.
- If you are turned down or non-renewed, our insurance page covers the appeal path and who to call, including United Policyholders’ free help line for Ventura County.
Source: California Department of Insurance, Safer from Wildfires. Discount amounts vary by carrier and are filed individually; this is a description of the framework, not a promise of a specific rate.