Mercury Insurance Teams Up with Insurance Institute for Business & Home (IBHS) Safety to Promote Wildfire Preparedness
Homeowners in wildfire-prone areas can earn insurance discounts through IBHS 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
According to IBHS, 4.8 million
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 orOregon
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
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