Mercury Homeowners Insurance Review 2024

Mercury home insurance review

Mercury homeowners insurance earned 4 stars out of 5 for overall performance.

Mercury is one of the biggest home insurers in California, but it also sells homeowners policies in several other states such as Texas, Virginia and New York. Its policies generally come with extra dwelling coverage in case your house costs more than expected to rebuild after a fire or other disaster. Mercury sells homeowners insurance through independent agents.

Where Mercury home insurance stands out

Coverage. Mercury’s default policies generally include an extra cushion for your dwelling coverage, plus replacement cost coverage for your personal belongings. These are both more generous types of coverage than many standard homeowners policies have.

Discounts. Mercury offers plenty of ways to save money on homeowners insurance.

Where Mercury home insurance falls short

Availability. Mercury’s homeowners insurance is available in only 10 states.

Consumer complaints. Mercury draws a higher volume of complaints to state regulators than expected for a company of its size.

» MORE: The best homeowners insurance companies

State availability

Mercury sells homeowners policies in 10 states.

Mercury home insurance coverage

Mercury’s homeowners policies include all the standard types of coverage above. They may also include the following:

• Extended replacement cost coverage, which pays up to 150% of your dwelling limit to rebuild your home after a covered claim.

• Replacement cost coverage for personal property, which pays enough to buy brand-new replacements for damaged or destroyed belongings. Without this coverage your insurer would pay the items’ actual cash value, which reflects depreciation.

You may be able to add the following optional types of coverage to your policy:

• Identity theft coverage, which pays costs related to recovering your identity, up to $25,000.

• Equipment breakdown coverage for repairs to air conditioning systems, kitchen and laundry appliances, water heaters, electrical panels and more.

• Service line coverage, which pays to repair or replace damaged service lines, such as sewer, water and gas pipes. Without this coverage, you would be on the hook for these repairs, even though they connect to city-owned or utility-owned lines.  Coverage is available up to $10,000 per claim.

• Additional coverage for valuables, such as jewelry or fine art.

• Personal cyber coverage, which reimburses you if you’re the victim of an online attack such as online fraud or extortion. Coverage up to $50,000 is available.

• Water backup coverage to pay for damage from backed-up drains or failed sump pumps.

For California homeowners who have fire coverage through the state’s FAIR Plan, Mercury offers difference in conditions insurance to cover scenarios the FAIR Plan won’t, such as theft, personal liability and water damage from broken pipes.

» MORE: The best home insurance in California

Discounts

Depending on where you live, you may be able to save by:

• Owning a newer home.

• Having fire-resistant construction materials in your home.

• Living in a gated community.

• Having multiple policies with Mercury (also known as bundling).

• Installing protective devices such as smoke alarms, deadbolts or water leak detectors.

• Not filing any claims for at least three years.

• Signing up for electronic billing.

• Protecting your home against wind damage.

• Getting a quote in advance of when you need coverage to start.

• Being a recent homebuyer.

• Taking steps to prevent wildfires or living in a community recognized by the National Fire Protection Association as a Firewise USA site (California only).

» MORE: The cheapest home insurance

Consumer complaints

Mercury had more than the expected number of complaints to state regulators relative to its size for home insurance, according to three years' worth of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

Consumer experience

Website: On Mercury’s website, you can pay bills, view policy details, request changes and file claims. However, you’ll need to contact an agent to get a homeowners quote.

App: You can use Mercury’s app to see policy information, pay bills and contact customer service.

Claims: Mercury offers 24/7 claims filing online or at 800-503-3724. Once you’ve submitted your claim, you can check its status through your online account. Learn more about how to file a home insurance claim.

Customer service: For support, contact your agent, call 800-503-3724, send an email through the website or chat live with a representative.

» MORE: Home insurance calculator: Estimate your costs

Other home insurance companies to consider

See how Mercury stacks up against other popular homeowners insurance companies.

How we rate homeowners insurance

NerdWallet’s star ratings reward companies for consumer-first features and practices. We evaluate factors such as financial strength, consumer complaints, coverage, discounts and customer experience.

In our research, we analyzed:

• More than 270 million homeowners insurance rates.

• More than 50 insurance companies.

• Nearly 200 homeowner profiles.

View our complete homeowners insurance rating methodology.

Methodology