Robert Borucki carried homeowners insurance in Heber-Overgaard, Arizona, for over twenty years before his carrier dropped him. They suggested a metal roof might help. He spent roughly $10,000 on the installation, called back, and learned the company wasn't writing his area anymore.
His neighbor Bob Herber did the roof and the Firewise work both. Half the insurers he contacted wouldn't quote him. The rest wanted five to ten times his old premium. "That didn't seem to help much," he told FOX 10. "They're still no-bidding me."
A University of Arizona Extension analysis found that Navajo County hit Arizona's highest non-renewal rate in 2022 without large local fires in the preceding years. The study couldn't determine why individual policies were dropped. When a carrier exits a region based on portfolio exposure or catastrophe modeling, what any single homeowner does to their property may never enter the calculation.
What each step gets you:
Firewise USA: Community-level recognition. USAA offers premium discounts in Arizona for participants. No carrier is required to offer or renew coverage based on it.
Defensible space: Reduces fire spread to structures. California mandates insurers credit it in pricing. Arizona has no equivalent requirement.
Class A roof: Improves structural survival. Required for IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home designation.
IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home: Third-party verified, parcel-level designation. Available in Arizona since April 2026. $125 fee; all five requirements must be met. State Farm, Allstate, Farmers, USAA, and others participate. Some carriers will write designated homes where they otherwise won't. Discounts of 10–20% reported but "not guaranteed and vary by insurer and state."
What Arizona lacks: Any state mandate requiring carriers to recognize mitigation in their rate plans.