Mercury General Corporation ("Mercury General") and its subsidiaries
are primarily engaged in writing personal automobile insurance through 14 insurance
subsidiaries (referred to herein collectively as the "Insurance Companies")
in 13 states, principally California. The Company also writes homeowners, commercial
automobile, commercial property, mechanical breakdown, and umbrella insurance.
Insurance type
Published maximum limits of liability Private Passenger Automobile - bodily
injury (BI) $250,000 per person; $500,000 per accident
Private Passenger Automobile - property damage $250,000 per accident Commercial
Automobile (combined policy limits) $1,000,000 per accident
Homeowner property no maximum Homeowner liability $1,000,000
Umbrella liability $5,000,000
The majority of the Company’s automobile policies have liability limits
that are equal to or less than $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident
for BI and $50,000 per accident for property damage.
The Company obtains facultative reinsurance above a Company retention limit
of up to $7 million.
The majority of the Company’s homeowner policies have liability limits
of $300,000 or less and a replacement value of $500,000 or less.
The majority of the Company’s umbrella policies have liability limits
of $1,000,000.
The principal executive offices of Mercury General are located in Los Angeles,
California. The home office of the Insurance Companies and the information technology
center are located in Brea, California. The Company also owns office buildings
in Rancho Cucamonga and Folsom, California, which are used to support California
operations and future expansion, and in Clearwater, Florida and in Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma, which house Company employees and several third party tenants.
The Company has approximately 4,300 employees. The Company maintains branch
offices in a number of locations in California; Clearwater, Florida; Bridgewater,
New Jersey; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Austin and San Antonio, Texas.
The Company consolidated its non-California office based claims and underwriting
operations into hubs located in Clearwater, Florida; Bridgewater, New Jersey;
and Austin, Texas, which resulted in a net workforce reduction of approximately
135 employees and a $10 million pre-tax expense in the first quarter of 2013.
The Company sells its policies through approximately 9,700 independent agents,
its 100% owned insurance agents, AIS and Poliseek, and directly through internet
sales portals. All of the independent agents collectively accounted for more
than 87% of the Companys direct premiums written in 2015, and no independent
agent accounted for more than 1% of the Company’s direct premiums written
during the last three years. Approximately 1,900 of the independent agents are
located in California and approximately 1,500 are located in Florida. The independent
agents are independent contractors selected and contracted by the Company and
generally also represent competing insurance companies. AIS and Poliseek represented
the Company as independent agents prior to their acquisition in 2009, and continue
to act as independent agents selling policies for a number of other insurance
companies. Policies sold directly through the internet sales portals are assigned
to and serviced by the Companys agents.
3.01% 