The California Department of Insurance has approved and put into place a new regulation effective October 14, 2022. The regulation requires insurers to submit new rates incorporating wildfire safety standards and to establish a process for releasing wildfire risk determinations to residents and businesses within 180 days. The wildfire safety standards have been created by the Department to help insureds protect their property from wildfires.

The regulation incorporates the Safer from Wildfires framework, which helps insureds take steps to reduce the risk of property damage and help prevent the spread of wildfires. Insurers are to provide discounts to those insureds adhering to the Safer from Wildfire recommendations.

Included in the regulation are definitions for terms related to the Safer from Wildfire recommendations such as Class-A Fire Rated Roof, Enclosed Eaves, and Fire-Resistant Vents. Mandatory factors such as community-level mitigation designations, property-level mitigation efforts, building hardening measures and others are explained. Optional factors that may be included in the determination of whether a property is protected from wildfire hazards are also outlined, and include fuel, slope, access, direction of slope and other factors.