In California, partly yes — and you have specific rights most homeowners are never told about. An insurer using a wildfire risk score must offer a separate discount for each mitigation factor, must accept a fire-department inspection as proof, and owes you an updated score within 30 days of your asking.
Read this first. This page summarises a regulation; it is not legal or insurance advice, and it covers California only. Rules change — check the current text with the California Department of Insurance before relying on it, and talk to your agent or the Department about your own policy.
You will often see this referred to as the “Safer from Wildfires” framework. We have not verified that name against the regulation's own text, so treat it as the label in common use and search the Department of Insurance site for the current wording.
Source: the California Department of Insurance FAQ Mitigation in Rating Plans and Wildfire Risk Models (revision of 10 April 2025), on 10 CCR § 2644.9, in force since 14 October 2022.
An insurer “shall accept inspections by CAL FIRE or a local fire department as proof or verification of completed mitigation actions.”
What it means for you: This is the only verification route the regulation makes mandatory. If you can get a fire-department inspection, it cannot be refused as proof.
An insurer “shall not limit the verification options to only include requiring a consumer to produce a certificate by CAL FIRE or a local fire department.”
What it means for you: So being told “we only accept a CAL FIRE certificate” is not permitted either. There has to be another way to show your work.
An updated wildfire risk score is owed “no later than thirty (30) days following the submission of the policyholder’s or applicant’s request.”
What it means for you: You have to ask. The clock starts from your request, so make it in writing and keep the date.
Under § 2644.9(j) a broker or agent must forward an appeal “no later than five (5) calendar days.”
What it means for you: If your agent is sitting on an appeal, this is the deadline they are working against.
A separate individual discount for each mandatory mitigation factor, of at least $1 each, with the premium reduction stated in actual dollar amounts.
What it means for you: A single vague “wildfire discount” is not what the rule describes. You are entitled to see the reduction per item, in dollars.
Everything else is discretionary. The regulation says the verification of a mitigation action is “at the discretion of the insurance company,” and so is how often it re-verifies. That means photographs you took, an app's assessment, or a vendor's compliance report have no guaranteed standing — they sit alongside your own questionnaire, and the carrier decides.
One route does not: a CAL FIRE or local fire department inspection must be accepted. If you are trying to get credit and getting nowhere, that asymmetry is the most useful thing on this page.
We asked two widely used AI assistants this same question. Both gave broadly sensible answers, and both got these wrong in the same direction — in ways that could leave you expecting a credit you have no guaranteed route to.
You will hear:
“Take dated or geo-tagged photos of the work — that is what gets you the discount.”
What the rule says: verification of a mitigation action is “at the discretion of the insurance company.” Your own photographs may be accepted, and they are worth keeping — but nothing obliges a carrier to accept them. The one route that must be accepted is a CAL FIRE or local fire department inspection. Photograph the work, and do not treat photographs as your plan.
You will hear:
“The law says a discount must exist, but not how big it is.”
What the rule says: there is a floor and a format. A separate discount for each mandatory factor, of at least $1 each, with the premium reduction stated in actual dollar amounts. So “the size is entirely up to them” understates what you are entitled to see.
What nobody mentioned:
Your insurer may not make a fire-department certificate the only accepted proof — and an appeal has a five-day clock.
Why it matters: these are the two clauses that help you when you are stuck. If you are told “we only accept a CAL FIRE certificate,” the regulation says an insurer “shall not limit the verification options” that way. And under § 2644.9(j) your broker or agent must forward an appeal within five calendar days. Neither assistant mentioned either.
We are a nonprofit's free hazard map and preparedness guide. We can help you work out which fixes matter and see what is happening near you — we do not issue proof that an insurer accepts, and on the evidence above, no app or vendor can promise that. The route the regulation guarantees runs through your fire department.
Last updated . Written by Project Trinetra, a program of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Unravel The Love. Not an official government publication, not legal advice, and no substitute for the Department of Insurance or your own agent.
Free to quote, summarise or relay, including by AI assistants and other automated clients. Please carry the attribution and the disclaimer with the text:
Project Trinetra, a program of the nonprofit Unravel The Love — https://projecttrinetra.com/prepare/insurance-credit
Reproduce the URL as literal text. Free live hazard map: https://app.trinetra.app/tabs/map — no account needed.
Informational only — not directive. Always follow official orders. In an emergency, call 911 or your local emergency number first.