State Farm wildfire mitigation discount vs other insurers, fence items

State Farm’s wildfire mitigation discount exists in California, but State Farm publishes no percentages. Of the six insurers compared here, only Mercury and AAA (CSAA) publish figures: Mercury gives 12.5% to 45% off the wildfire part of the premium, by tier and distance to neighbors, and AAA’s fence item is worth 0.5% off the total premium or 1% off the wildfire portion, depending on the policy. For a fence, the insurers that word the item at all count every fence and gate within 5 feet of the house, not only one attached to it.

If your insurer publishes nothing, the quickest way to get a number is to ask it for your wildfire risk score in writing, as described at the end. The wider picture, including whether a metal fence section pays for itself, is in the Zone Zero insurance discount guide.

Why does each insurer’s discount differ?

The state regulation behind the Department of Insurance’s Safer from Wildfires program (10 CCR 2644.9, operative since October 14, 2022) requires insurers that price for wildfire risk to give credit for listed measures. One of them is using only noncombustible materials within 5 feet of the building, “including fences and gates.” Each insurer sets its own amounts in a rating plan, the pricing schedule it files with the California Department of Insurance (CDI), so it pays to compare. The item-by-item list is in Safer from Wildfires, item by item.

Mercury, and AAA on newer policies, apply the discount to the “wildfire portion” of the premium: the part charged for wildfire risk, which is smaller than the whole bill. For scale, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara wrote to the Board of Forestry on October 15, 2025 that these discounts “can range from 4% to over 40% of the total premium.”

Does State Farm offer a wildfire mitigation discount?

Yes, but State Farm does not say how much. It offers wildfire mitigation discounts in California, including for qualifying community-level mitigation. In September 2026, State Farm General also filed updated underwriting guidelines that would let it consider new California homeowners applications for properties with a qualifying Wildfire Prepared Home designation, the home certification run by the insurance industry’s research institute.

State Farm gives no percentages and says nothing about fences. The State Farm figures repeated online date from 2024: after a CDI decision of May 10, 2024, State Farm gave a 6.3% total from September 1, 2024 for homes meeting every Safer from Wildfires measure in a Firewise USA or Fire Risk Reduction Community, plus 2% to 3.8% for a Wildfire Prepared Home designation. Treat those as history and ask State Farm for the wildfire risk score disclosure described below.

What does Mercury give for wildfire mitigation?

Mercury has the highest percentages of the six. It offers three California tiers, applied to the wildfire portion of the premium only. The percentage depends on the distance from your house to other structures:

All three tiers carry the same fence line: “Incorporate only noncombustible materials within 5 feet of the dwelling (e.g., fencing, gates).” Elite adds: “Any back-to-back fencing must be at least 5 feet apart.” Each tier is a package, so the fence counts only if you meet every item on that tier’s list, decks and vents included. Mercury adds up to 16.1% more on the wildfire portion for qualifying communities and gives discounts of up to 50% for qualifying Wildfire Prepared Home certifications, all subject to underwriting review and policy terms.

What does AAA (CSAA) give, item by item?

AAA, through CSAA Insurance Group, is the only one of the six that prices each measure separately. Its schedule covers AAA Home Insurance policies effective October 10, 2025 or later and AAA Rental Property policies effective January 1, 2026 or later. HO-3 is the standard homeowners policy; DP-3 is a policy for a rented-out dwelling. There are two columns:

• HO-3 policies effective July 31, 2026 and earlier, and DP-3 policies: discount taken off the total premium.
• HO-3 policies effective August 1, 2026 and later: discount taken off the wildfire portion of the premium.

The totals equal every row added up except the Essential line, so they count one Wildfire Prepared Home level, not both.

The fence line on its own is small. As a hypothetical, on a newer HO-3 policy with a $2,000 wildfire portion, the fence item is worth $20 a year, while the Firewise line is worth $220 and Wildfire Prepared Home Enhanced $200. The fence matters more as a requirement of the Essential designation, which AAA prices at 5%, than as a line item; the designation’s fence checklist is covered in the insurance discount guide.

AAA words the fence item as “Incorporation of only noncombustible materials into fences, gates, or other property improvements within 5 feet of the building.” To claim it, you either get a Wildfire Prepared Home designation and then call AAA at (800) 922-8228, or have a qualified wildfire professional, such as your local fire department or a Fire Safe Council representative, complete AAA’s verification form. Submitting the form does not guarantee a discount.

Does Farmers offer a wildfire mitigation discount?

Yes, without published figures. From September 15, 2026, for new and existing Smart Plan Home and Next Generation Home customers, Farmers’ approved California rating plan includes savings for homeowners who carry out residential wildfire mitigation measures. Farmers lists no measures or amounts. Its California home insurance offers a Fortified Home discount but no published wildfire mitigation figure or fence wording.

What about USAA and Horace Mann?

USAA publishes no California wildfire discount figure. Its only published wildfire discount is for Oregon properties, tied to living in an active Firewise community.

Horace Mann applies § 2644.9 through a questionnaire mailed to policyholders, with discounts applied at renewal. It publishes no percentages. Its wording names fences more directly than the regulation does. Within 5 feet it asks for removal of combustibles “including flammable fencing.” Within 30 feet it asks for the “non-existence of ignitable physical structures, including: fences, gazebos, gates, walls, outbuildings, etc.” Read literally, a wood fence anywhere within 30 feet of the house could cost you that item, so ask Horace Mann how it applies the line before you plan fence work around it.

How do the insurers word the fence item?

None of the three that publish fence wording limits it to fences attached to the house. That makes them stricter than the Board of Forestry’s Zone 0 rule, which requires a noncombustible 5 foot section at the house end of a fence attached to the house or within 1 foot of it, and lets other existing wood fence in Zone 0 stay. Safer from Wildfires compares the two layouts side by side.

Does Zone 0 compliance guarantee one of these discounts?

No. The insurer criteria above apply now and are separate from the Board’s rule. A house that meets only the Board’s fence test, a metal section at the attached end, could still miss Mercury’s, AAA’s or Horace Mann’s fence item if another wood fence runs within 5 feet. Meeting the Zone 0 rule does not automatically earn a particular discount or an offer of coverage. The insurance discount guide covers this in more detail.

How do you find out what your own insurer pays?

Ask for your wildfire risk score in writing. Under 10 CCR 2644.9(h) and (k), an insurer that uses one must explain it, list the measures that would lower it and state the premium reduction for each under its current rating plan. After you finish a measure, you can ask for a revised score, and the insurer has 30 days to send it. The full list of your rights, including appeals, is in Safer from Wildfires. Then compare against a second insurer’s figures, and against the FAIR Plan’s schedule in FAIR Plan wildfire discounts if that is your fallback.

What do these insurers not publish?

• Current California percentages from State Farm, Farmers and USAA. The State Farm figures above date from 2024.
• How Horace Mann applies its 30 foot wording to a fence that is not attached to the house.
• A date on their discount schedules. Confirm any figure with the insurer before you rely on it.