Mercury General

Mercury General Corporation is a multiple-line insurance organization that offers personal automobile, homeowners, renters, and business insurance.

Founded in 1961 and located in Los Angeles, Mercury has assets of over $4 billion, employs 4,500 people, and more than 8,000 independent agents in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia.

Mercury's primary focus is automobiles and homeowners' insurance. However, the company also writes personal liability policies (umbrella), business insurance, mechanical breakdown protection (similar to an extended warranty for vehicles), renters, service line protection, home systems protection, identity management protection and ride-hailing insurance.

History
Mercury was founded by George Joseph, who flew 50 World War II missions over Africa and Italy as a navigator before graduating from Harvard on the G.I. Bill in 1949. Joseph then spent more than a decade in the insurance industry before founding Mercury Insurance in 1961 as a low-cost alternative to larger insurance companies.

Mercury's California expansion began in 1964 with the opening of its first Orange County office. Two years later, the company spread into the San Fernando Valley and also began operations in San Diego. Mercury offices opened in Northern California by 1968.

Mercury wrote $1 million in premiums every month by 1970 and sold its first homeowners policy in 1972. In 1973, the company celebrated its 10th consecutive year of revenue growth. The newly created Mercury Insurance Company wrote its first auto policy in 1977.

In 1989, Mercury began expansion outside of California, opening offices in Georgia and Illinois.

The company insured more than 1 million vehicles in California by 1998. This led to further expansion to Florida in 1998, New York in 2001, and Virginia in 2001.

Forbes listed Mercury Insurance on its “100 Most Trustworthy Companies” in 2012 “America’s 50 Most Trusted Financial Companies” in 2014, 2015 and 2016. It has been rated A “Excellent” by insurance industry rating agencies A.M. Best and Fitch.

In 2017, the company was named a “Top Five Best Auto Insurance Company” by Insure.com, who surveyed more than 3,700 U.S. insurance customers on the criteria of “customer service,” “claims handling,” “pricing,” “plans to renew current policy,” and “would recommend the insurer.” Additionally, Mercury Insurance was named one of “America’s Best Midsize Employers” by Forbes in 2017.

Mercury is currently led by president and CEO Gabriel Tirador, with Joseph being chairman of the board.

Products
Personal auto insurance – Mercury provides liability, collision, comprehensive, medical, personal injury protection, uninsured/underinsured motorist, rental car reimbursement, and roadside assistance.

Homeowners insurance – A policy specifically tailored to individual needs for single-family homes that includes the structure, belongings and liability coverage. It may also provide additional living expenses if policyholders are forced to vacate their homes due to a covered loss or peril.

Renters insurance – Renters insurance provides coverage for personal property and liability protection. It also covers temporary living expenses should one's property become uninhabitable due to a covered loss or peril.

Condo insurance – Specifically designed for condo owners, these policies provide coverage for personal property, liability protection, guest medical protection, and condo unit additions and alterations. It also covers temporary living expenses should one's property become uninhabitable due to a covered loss or peril.

Umbrella insurance – Additional liability protection for personal auto and/or homeowners in the event losses exceed the underlying policy's liability limits.

Dwelling fire insurance – A policy specifically designed for landlords to protect rental properties – providing coverage for the structure, contents and general liability. Should the property become uninhabitable due to a covered loss or peril, fair rental value will be provided for lost rents until the property is livable again.

Business auto insurance – Provides protection for individuals, sole proprietorships, partnerships and corporations with vehicles that are used for business purposes.

Business insurance – Three different policies – Business Owners Policies (BOPs), Commercial Property, and Commercial Liability – that protect various aspects of a business. The most common policy coverages include liability, medical, building coverage, business personal property and business income.

Mechanical protection – Commonly referred to as extended warranty coverage, Mercury's mechanical protection pays for covered vehicle repairs after the vehicle manufacturer's warranty expires. Certain benefits are also available during the vehicle manufacturer's warranty period.

Ride-hailing insurance – An endorsement to Mercury's personal auto policy that covers the gaps between auto insurance and a ridesharing company's commercial insurance coverage when the driver working for a ridesharing company turns on the ride-hailing app.

Service line protection – An endorsement to a homeowner's policy that covers damage to exterior underground service lines, which includes water piping, sewer lines, power lines and more.

Home systems protection – An endorsement to a homeowner's policy that covers HVAC systems, appliances, electronics and more.

Identity management protection – An endorsement to a homeowner, condo or renters' policy that help protect a person's identity from fraud.

Mercury Insurance blog
Mercury Insurance helps educate consumers about insurance by publishing insurance articles on its blog. The articles discuss a variety of topics, including: how insurance protects homeowners, renters and their property, how to save money and reduce debt through proper budgeting; insurance considerations surrounding weather events; how to prepare for and handle natural disasters; insurance claim instructions; advice on finding the insurance deals and coverage options; instructions on how to protect personal property while away on extended trips; and articles promoting financial literacy. The blog also features lifestyle pieces, covering subjects such as travel, technology, parenting and teen driving.

Driver safety program
Mercury Insurance created the Drive Safe Challenge in 2016 to help promote teen driver safety. It began as a collaboration between Mercury Insurance, the Anaheim Ducks and the California Highway Patrol in Anaheim, and has since expanded to Florida through a partnership with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Tampa Police Department. The program has also been broadened to include drivers 55 and older to help improve their driving skills.

The Drive Safe Challenge includes an interactive classroom session and behind-the-wheel training to teach drivers of all ages the necessary skills to help them stay safe while driving. Participants learn collision avoidance tactics, car-handling, maneuvering on slippery surfaces, emergency braking maneuvers and more.

Mercury has also developed a free online extension that includes interactive tools, quizzes, driving safety information and discussion topics to help parents prepare their children for driving.