Mercury insurance pros and cons

Mercury is an average insurance company. It’s good for low rates, but its poor customer service ratings show it has a hard time satisfying customer expectations.

Sources: J.D. Power, NAIC, AM Best

Mercury’s 3.2 complaint rating for home insurance from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is particularly bad. This means the company had three times as many confirmed home insurance complaints as average for its size in 2023. A confirmed complaint is a complaint that leads to a finding of fault.

Mercury has a 1.6 complaint rating for auto insurance. This is better than its home insurance score, but still worse than the average.

Mercury is especially popular in California, where it is the seventh-largest auto insurance company. California drivers give Mercury a 794 rating for overall satisfaction, according to J.D. Power. This score is also worse than the average.

How much is Mercury car insurance?

Mercury auto insurance rate comparison

Mercury auto insurance costs by driving record

Mercury’s auto insurance rates for drivers with a bad driving record are also cheaper than average.

Mercury’s rates for drivers with a prior at-fault accident average $2,530 a year for full coverage, or $211 a month. This is 33% less than the average. Mercury’s rate for drivers with a DUI is 45% less than the average.

Mercury’s car insurance costs for teens

Mercury also has cheap car insurance for teens. It charges 18-year-olds an average of $1,301 a year for liability-only insurance, or $108 a month. This is 12% less than the average. Mercury’s full-coverage car insurance rate for 18-year-olds is 14% less than the average.

Mercury car insurance discounts

Mercury offers several common car insurance discounts as well as a few unique ways to save.

Bundling your auto and home insurance can usually save you about 15% with Mercury. You can also get the discount for bundling with a Mercury renters or condo insurance policy.

Some of the other common car insurance discounts you can get from Mercury include:

• Anti-theft discount for cars with theft-prevention devices or equipment
• Payment discounts for setting up auto pay, going paperless and/or paying in full
• Good driver discount for having no recent claims or accidents
• Good student discounts for young drivers who maintain a B average in school

Mercury also offers discounts to drivers in certain occupations or organizations. The discount is available to:

• AAA members
• California Medical Association members
• Costco and Sam’s Club members
• Government employees
• Pilots
• Public safety workers
• Scientists and engineers

In California, Mercury’s RealDrive program can save you money if you only drive occasionally. The program uses your mileage to determine your rate. The less you drive, the less you pay.

Mercury car insurance coverage

Along with all the normal car insurance coverages, Mercury offers a few extras that may be useful.

Roadside assistance

Mercury’s roadside assistance coverage can be an economical alternative to a membership plan. It includes coverage for locksmith services, which are important for a lost key.

Mercury offers roadside assistance in three tiers. The middle tier is the best option for most drivers. It only costs about $15 per six-month policy and provides up to $500 in services (or up to 100 miles in towing).

Mechanical protection

Mercury’s mechanical protection can be an economic alternative to an extended warranty. It covers mechanical and electrical breakdowns, but not wear and tear. The coverage also provides roadside assistance, trip interruption coverage, road hazard protection for your tires and other benefits.

Mercury homeowners insurance

How much is Mercury home insurance?

Mercury homeowners insurance rate comparisons

Mercury home insurance discounts

Mercury offers some of the more common home insurance discounts, but not very many.

Like most other companies, you’ll save the most by bundling your homeowners policy with your car insurance.

You’ll save a little more for having protective devices in your home. Deadbolt locks and smoke detectors get you a small discount. You’ll get a larger discount for monitored home security.

Mercury also offers home insurance discounts for:

• Fire resistant construction materials
• Newer homes
• Homes in gated communities

Mercury homeowners insurance coverages

Mercury’s flexible home insurance options let you customize your coverage to match your specific needs.

Some of the more useful add-ons to consider include:

• Replacement cost personal property coverage: A standard home insurance policy covers your belongings at actual cash value. This is their value after depreciation. When you upgrade to replacement cost coverage, the insurance company replaces stolen or damaged items with comparable new ones.
• Water/sewer backup: This add-on covers damage from a backup of your home’s sewer or drainage system. The coverage does not apply to backups caused by a flood.
• Service line coverage: This covers the costs of repairing or replacing an underground utility line on your property. It applies to water and sewer lines, gas lines and others. Mercury’s service line protection provides up to $10,000 in coverage for less than $7 a month.
• Additional dwelling coverage: The dwelling coverage in your homeowners policy pays to rebuild your home after a disaster. An additional dwelling coverage endorsement provides more money if the costs of rebuilding your home exceed your dwelling limit.

Mercury also offers home systems protection and identity management services. Although it may be tempting to add these to your policy, each of these extras has its shortfalls.

Mercury’s home systems protection, for example, only covers home systems and appliances for mechanical or electrical breakdowns. Unlike a good home warranty, Mercury’s plan does not cover your systems or appliances for wear and tear.

Mercury’s identity management includes a wide range of services to protect against identity theft and fraud. However, these services do not include credit monitoring, which is a key component of identity theft protection.

Mercury’s home insurance policies do not cover earthquakes or floods. However, Mercury’s agents can usually help you get separate insurance for each of these risks.

Mercury Insurance quotes are available through the company’s website and from independent agents in 11 states.

• Arizona
• California
• Florida (auto insurance only)
• Georgia
• Illinois
• Nevada
• New Jersey
• New York
• Oklahoma
• Texas
• Virginia

The agents who sell Mercury Insurance can usually also provide quotes from other insurance companies serving your area. This lets you get quotes from multiple companies at once.

Methodology

LendingTree gets insurance rate data from Quadrant Information Services using publicly sourced insurance company filings. Rates are based on an analysis of hundreds of thousands of home and car insurance quotes in California. Your own rates may be different.

Unless noted otherwise, our sample driver is a 30-year-old man with good credit and a clean driving. Our sample young driver is an 18-year-old male with no prior tickets or accidents. Our sample vehicle is a 2015 Honda Civic EX.

Minimum-liability policies provide liability coverage with the state’s required minimum limits.

Full-coverage policies include:

• Bodily injury liability: $50,000 per person, $100,000 per accident
• Property damage liability: $25,000
• Uninsured motorist: $50,000 per person, $100,000
• Personal injury protection: Minimum limits where required state
• Collision: $500 deductible
• Comprehensive: $500 deductible

Home insurance rates are based on policies with the following coverages, limits and deductible:

• Dwelling: $400,000
• Other structures: $40,000
• Personal property: $200,000
• Loss of use: $80,000
• Personal liability: $100,000
• Guest medical payments: $5,000
• All-perils deductible: $1,000

Overall satisfaction ratings are from the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Auto Insurance Study. Claims satisfaction ratings are from the J.D. Power 2023 Auto Claims Satisfaction Study. Complaint ratings are based on NAIC data from 2023.