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Mercury Insurance Teams Up with Insurance Institute for Business & Home (IBHS) Safety to Promote Wildfire Preparedness

News Provided by PR Newswire2025-05-20

Mercury Insurance Teams Up with Insurance Institute for Business & Home (IBHS) Safety to Promote Wildfire Preparedness

[20-May-2025]

Homeowners in wildfire-prone areas can earn insurance discounts through IBHS certification program

LOS ANGELES, May 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Wildfires are posing ever-increasing threats to communities around the country and Mercury Insurance is partnering with the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) to help homeowners act before disaster strikes. Through this collaboration, Mercury policyholders in wildfire-susceptible areas may qualify for a discount on their premiums by participating in the IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home certification program.

The certification program encourages homeowners to make meaningful, real-world improvements to harden their homes against wildfire risk. Mercury customers who earn the Wildfire Prepared Home designation may be eligible for a discount on the Catastrophe Fire portion of their premium. Homeowners should contact their Mercury agent for eligibility and program details.

"IBHS offers homeowners the ability to certify their homes against severe weather risks specific to their area, including wildfires. The program is based on more than 10 years of carefully executed research," said Kelly Butler, VP and Chief Underwriting Officer at Mercury Insurance. "Many of Mercury's customers reside in California, and preparedness is the key to protecting our homes and communities — wildfires don't wait, and neither should we."

According to IBHS, 4.8 million U.S. homes are identified as high or extreme risk of wildfire, with more than 2 million located in California. Losses from wildfires have added up to $5.1 billion in just the past 10 years. IBHS believes that improving building codes and installation practices will result in reduced losses.

IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home Certification

To get your home IBHS certified, you'll need to participate in either the FORTIFIED or Wildfire Prepared Home program. While FORTIFIED focuses on general severe weather resilience, Wildfire Prepared Home is specifically designed to address wildfire threats through proven mitigation strategies.

Steps for Wildfire Prepared Home certification include:

Apply: Register on the IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home portal and pay the application fee.
Inspection: An IBHS-authorized evaluator will conduct an external inspection of your property and take photographs.
Compliance: If your home doesn't meet all requirements, you'll receive a list of mitigation actions and an opportunity to bring it into compliance.
Ongoing Maintenance: You'll need to demonstrate annual maintenance of your landscaping to retain the designation.
Certificate: Once all of the requirements have been met, IBHS will issue the appropriate certificate.

There are two levels of certification:

Wildfire Prepared Base – Requires defensible space within 5 feet of the home, preparing the home's exterior, and maintaining the deck/covered porch and yard to prevent ember ignition.

Wildfire Prepared Plus – Includes all Base-level requirements plus an extra layer of home protection for flames and radiant heat that is common with new home construction or exterior home renovations.

All homes eligible for certification must fulfill the following requirements:

The applicant must be the homeowner
Photos of all four sides of the home, showing the 0- to 5-foot noncombustible zone, are required
The home must be a single-family, detached house (no townhouse or condos) with three stories or less
The home must be in California or Oregon

Applicants should bear in mind that all certifications are valid for three years, and at the end of years one and two, each home must be reinspected.

"The IBHS certification process allows homeowners to take a series of actions that will meaningfully reduce their fire risk. If the process seems overwhelming at first, the best advice is to take it one step at a time," said Mary Anne Byrd, Communications Director at IBHS. "We are here to help applicants every step of the way."

About Mercury Insurance

Headquartered in Los Angeles, Mercury Insurance (NYSE: MCY) is a multiple-line insurance carrier offering personal auto, homeowners, and renters insurance directly to consumers and through a network of independent agents in Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia, as well as auto insurance in Florida. Mercury also writes business owners, business auto, landlord, commercial multi-peril and mechanical protection insurance in various states.

Since 1962, Mercury has provided customers with tremendous value for their insurance dollar by pairing ultra-competitive rates with excellent customer service, through nearly 4,100 employees and a network of more than 6,500 independent agents in 11 states. Mercury has earned an "A" rating from A.M. Best, as well as "Best Auto Insurance Company" designations from Forbes and Insure.com. For more information visit www.MercuryInsurance.com or follow the company on Twitter or Facebook.