California Wildfire Mitigation Discount Calculator

Estimate your insurance discount under the CDI Safer From Wildfires regulation. Stack discounts for Class A roof, ember-resistant vents, defensible-space zones, and community certifications. Works for admitted-market and FAIR Plan policies.

Your renewal premium today
$
40-55% admitted; 55-70% FAIR
%
Structure
Defensible Space
Community
$4,200Minimal mitigation
Save $0/yr (0.0% of total premium)
Raw Discount Stack
0%
Sum of all selected items
After Reg Cap (40%)
0%
On wildfire portion
Dollar Savings
$0
Annual
5-Year Savings
$0
No-inflation basis
Raw total before cap−0%
Reg capmin(0, 40)
Effective discount0.0%
Wildfire-portion dollars$2,310
Annual savings$0
About the 40% capSafer From Wildfires sets a discount floor — every admitted insurer must offer at least the listed discounts. The 40% cap here reflects what filings from State Farm, CSAA, and Farmers actually allow in stacked combination. Individual insurer rate filings may permit a slightly higher cap; check your renewal notice or ask your agent to run the mitigation discount worksheet.

How the discount math actually works

California's Safer From Wildfires regulation (Title 10 CCR §2644.9) requires every admitted homeowners insurer to apply mandatory discounts when a policyholder implements specified wildfire-mitigation actions. The discounts apply to the wildfire-risk portion of your premium, not the entire premium. In high-risk ZIP codes like Paradise (Butte County), Lake Tahoe Basin, or the Santa Cruz Mountains, wildfire risk represents 55-70% of total premium — meaning a 40% discount on the wildfire portion translates to a 22-28% discount on your total premium.

The discounts are stackable but capped. The regulation doesn't publish an explicit cap, but in practice admitted-market filings cap the cumulative wildfire-portion discount at 38-42%. This calculator uses 40% as the typical cap. Filings from State Farm, CSAA, Farmers, and Allstate all publish their specific stacking math in their CDI-approved rate manuals.

For FAIR Plan policies (the insurer of last resort), the same regulation applies as of 2023, though we apply a 0.90 modifier to the discount because FAIR's underlying premium already reflects a risk-pool methodology rather than market-based pricing. FAIR Plan policies are typically 30-60% more expensive than admitted-market policies, so even a smaller percentage discount yields meaningful dollar savings.

Most discounts require third-party inspection — typically a state-certified wildfire-mitigation specialist, IBHS-trained inspector, or local fire district verification. Inspections cost $200-$500 and remain valid for 3-5 years. Community discounts (Firewise USA, Shelter-in-Place) require documentation from the certifying body. Your insurer must accept any qualified third-party inspection — they cannot require their own preferred vendor.

The mitigation discount does not solve the non-renewal crisis. Insurers ceasing new business in high-risk ZIPs are responding to catastrophe-model output from RMS, AIR, and Karen Clark — not to individual mitigation. Full mitigation makes you a more attractive risk for whichever insurer is still writing your area, but it cannot force an insurer to enter a market they've exited. In many high-risk ZIPs, FAIR Plan with a Difference-in-Conditions (DIC) wrap is the only available option even for fully mitigated homes.

Frequently asked questions