Mercury Insurance has announced new coverages and discounts for homeowners and renters in Illinois. The new coverage options provide additional insurance protection and environmentally friendly replacement products, while discounts are available for homeowners already taking eco-friendly measures, putting hard-earned money back in the pockets of policyholders.
Green home coverage allows Mercury to cover up to an additional 10% of replacement costs for environmentally friendly alternatives or construction methods with a covered loss. This means that if a homeowner with this coverage has damaged carpeting and selects an eco-friendly replacement, Mercury would issue funds 10% more than the cost to replace the carpeting. The protection also extends to other types of property, such as appliances.
Many times, roofing or siding repair is limited to a damaged area of the home, and with time the older roofing or siding becomes unavailable. Mercury is providing two additional coverages – siding or roofing – that allow the undamaged portions to be replaced when there is a mismatch.
To better protect homeowners from hidden water damages, Mercury is offering coverage that would apply to the resulting damages in instances when water leaks are hidden from the homeowner within a wall or ceiling and go on for months only to be found when a wall is opened up.
Mercury is also offering new protection covering up to $1,000 of food items in case of a loss of power or mechanical failure of a refrigerator resulting in spoiled food.
For discounts, Mercury s offering a 5% discount for all perils as long as the home has a green certification by the U.S. Green Building Council LEED rating system or meets the requirements of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) green building guidelines.
Homes more than 20 years old with permitted renovations during the last ten years are eligible for up to a 10% discount on wind and water perils.
Mercury is also rewarding homeowner policyholders who have paid on time for the past 36 months with a Good Payer discount, saving them 2% on the policy. Renters' insurance policyholders get a discount of up to 10% in savings on their premiums, while policyholders who sign up for the customer portal, paperless billing, and paperless document directory get a new discount of up to 2% in premium savings.
