Mercury Wildfire Mitigation Discounts: Do You Qualify? (Step-by-Step)

Mercury, our top carrier in the California home insurance market, gives real discounts for wildfire mitigation: 12.5% to 45% off the wildfire portion of your premium, and up to 50% for IBHS-certified homes. Use this step-by-step check to see where your home stands. Then let us confirm it in person with a free Wildfire Insurability Walk-Through. Most agencies quote from a desk and never see your house. We come to it, validate every requirement and document it.

Mercury Insurance Authorized Agent logoGold Insurance Solutions is a Mercury Insurance Authorized Agent.

Already a Gold Insurance Solutions client with Mercury? Email photos of your mitigation to team@gold.insure and we’ll review your discount.
Not a client yet? Book a free Gold Walk-Through or get a quote.

Mercury’s three wildfire mitigation tiers

Since July 1, 2026, Mercury offers three tiers. The discount applies to the wildfire portion of the premium, and it grows with the distance between your home and other structures.

Tier About 10 ft 10 to 30 ft 30+ ft
Essential 12.5% 17.5% 22.5%
Enhanced 20% 25% 35%
Elite 25% 35% 45%

IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home: 22.5% to 37.5%. Wildfire Prepared Home Plus: 30% to 50%. Fire resistive construction: 60%.

Step-by-step: do you qualify?

Grab your phone and walk around the outside of your home. Take a photo of each item as you go; you’ll need them.

Step 1: Check the first 5 feet around your home

The first 5 feet around a California home: bark mulch, shrubs and wood fence touching the house don't qualify for wildfire discounts; gravel, low plants and a metal gate do
  • No bark, wood chips, straw or rubber mulch anywhere within 5 feet
  • Ground cover (grass, low plants) 4 inches tall or less
  • Larger plants under 18 inches, and at least 2 feet from windows
  • No firewood, wood furniture or combustible fencing or gates within 5 feet
  • Trees: canopy at least 10 feet above the roof and 10 feet from any chimney

Easy fix: swap bark for gravel or pavers, move firewood out, replace the last section of wood fence touching the house with metal.

Step 2: Look up at your roof and gutters

Wood shake roof and clogged plastic gutter guard don't qualify; Class A tile or asphalt shingle roof with clean metal gutter qualifies
  • Class A fire-rated roof (properly installed tile and asphalt shingle typically qualify)
  • Roof, gutters and downspouts clear of leaves and needles
  • Gutter covers, if any, are metal (plastic or foam covers don’t qualify)

Step 3: Check your vents and eaves

Ember-resistant vents: open louvers or torn screens let embers in; fine 1/8-inch metal mesh qualifies for wildfire discounts
Open eaves with exposed rafters vs. enclosed eaves with a solid soffit panel for wildfire mitigation
  • Ember- and flame-resistant vents (fine metal mesh)
  • Eaves in good repair

Easy fix: vent screens are often a weekend project.

Step 4: Look at the base of your walls

Bottom 6 inches of exterior walls: wood siding to the dirt doesn't qualify; stucco or concrete base with gravel qualifies for wildfire mitigation discounts
  • At least 6 inches of noncombustible material (stucco, concrete, stone) between the ground and any wood siding

Step 5: Check your deck

Decks and wildfire discounts: stuff stored under the deck doesn't qualify; clear underneath with 5 feet of gravel around qualifies
  • Nothing stored or growing under the deck (or no deck)
  • 5 feet of noncombustible clearance around the deck
  • Decks less than 4 feet off the ground are enclosed

Step 6: Check sheds and other structures

Mercury wildfire discount grows with distance from your home to the nearest structure: about 10 ft, 10 to 30 ft, or 30+ ft
Trees and defensible space: branches over the roof and ladder fuels don't qualify; canopy 10 feet above the roof and trimmed limbs qualify
  • Any shed, garage or structure within 30 feet meets the same standards as the house
  • Defensible space maintained beyond 5 feet: brush cleared, trees trimmed, ladder fuels removed (see our ladder fuels guide)

What are ladder fuels? Ladder fuels are the plants that let a small ground fire climb into the trees: tall dry grass, shrubs growing under trees, young trees, and low-hanging branches. CAL FIRE describes fire moving “from the ground to the brush to the treetops like a ladder.” Break the ladder by trimming tree limbs 6 to 10 feet off the ground (on smaller trees, only the lower one-third), keeping a gap of at least 3 times a shrub’s height between the shrub and the branches above it, and mowing grass to 4 inches. See our complete ladder fuels guide.

Ladder fuels explained: tall grass, a shrub under a tree and low branches let wildfire climb into the canopy; trimming limbs 6 to 10 feet up and clearing shrubs breaks the ladder
CAL FIRE spacing for shrubs and trees by slope: flat ground 2x shrub height and 10 ft between tree canopies, moderate slope 4x and 20 ft, steep slope 6x and 30 ft

If you checked everything in Steps 1 to 6, your home may meet Mercury’s Essential tier.

Step 7: See if you can move up

Windows for wildfire discounts: single-pane doesn't qualify; dual-pane with at least one tempered pane qualifies for Mercury Enhanced and Elite

Enhanced adds: multi-pane windows with at least one tempered pane, metal gutters and downspouts, other structures at least 10 feet away with 5 feet of clearance, and no more than 3 accessory structures within 30 feet.

Elite adds: noncombustible siding, exterior doors and deck, enclosed eaves, a metal dryer vent with a louver or flap, noncombustible shutters, enclosed space under bay windows, back-to-back fences at least 5 feet apart, and no structures within 30 feet.

Step 8: Get it validated and applied

  1. Book a free Wildfire Insurability Walk-Through, which we call the Gold Walk-Through. We confirm each requirement on site, measure structure separation and photograph everything.
  2. We sign a mitigation validation form and submit it with your photos.
  3. Not with Mercury yet? If your home qualifies, we quote it. A well-mitigated home can open doors even where coverage has been hard to find, including moving off the FAIR Plan.

See which Mercury tier your home qualifies for: Book your free Wildfire Insurability Walk-Through
Realtors: send any address to quote@gold.insure

On the California FAIR Plan? See the FAIR Plan wildfire discount check.

This page summarizes Mercury’s California Wildfire Mitigation Discounts chart (CA 8/2026) and is general information, not a Mercury publication. The full requirements apply, including detailed 5-foot-zone vegetation rules. Mercury wildfire mitigation discounts apply only to the wildfire peril portion of a homeowners premium, vary by structure separation including distance to neighboring dwellings, and remain subject to underwriting review and policy terms. Mitigation does not guarantee eligibility, renewal or specific pricing. Phil Irwin, LUTCF, CLCS, President, Gold Insurance Solutions · CA License #0G50873 · Agency License #6000540.

Sources: Mercury: Wildfire Mitigation · CDI: Safer from Wildfires · IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home