- Car Insurance
Founded in 1961, Mercury is an insurance provider that has received a wealth of prestigious accolades over the years and is ranked as one of the cheapest providers across the 11 states in which it operates.
Find your best rate on Car Insurance!
Attention: Still Open During the Financial Crisis…
Tip: Act now to see if you qualify for lower rates!
Compare free personalized quotes from the nation’s top providers.
In this Mercury Insurance Review, we will compare this insurance company’s products, services, and prices to other insurance carriers and see how it stacks up.
Mercury Auto Insurance Coverage: Main Options
Mercury provides varying degrees of coverage. You can opt for the bare minimum requirement in your state or choose an extended coverage plan that will cover you for most eventualities.
To buy insurance from Mercury, you need to go through an agent. You can find details of Mercury insurance agents through the Mercury website or work directly with a local agent you already know.
The insurance coverage options include:
- Liability Coverage: Bodily injury coverage and property damage coverage are both provided to help you meet the state minimum requirements. They can also be increased if you need a little more cover. Liability insurance is a requirement in most states.
- Collision Coverage: Liability insurance covers the other driver during an at-fault accident. It does not cover you if you hit a tree or a wall. For that, you need collision coverage, which is provided by Mercury for an additional cost.
- Comprehensive Coverage: An extensive policy option that will cover you for damage not related to car accidents, such as vandalism and weather/environmental damage. Comprehensive insurance also covers you in the event of a collision with an animal, which, surprisingly is not covered by collision insurance.
- Personal Injury Protection (PIP): This insurance option covers you for personal damages, as well as lost wages, childcare costs, and other expenses that result from injuries sustained during a car accident. It will also cover you for these injuries if you are a passenger.
- Medical Payments Coverage: Medical payments coverage is designed to cover your medical bills following an accident. It is required in a couple of states and often provides cover up to a few thousand dollars.
- Rental Car Coverage: If your car is being repaired or was stolen, rental car coverage will ensure you can stay on the roads by providing you with a replacement vehicle for a fixed period of time.
- Underinsured/Uninsured Motorist Coverage: A type of insurance that covers you when you are hit by an uninsured driver or an underinsured driver, essentially filling in the gaps that would otherwise have been paid by their insurer.
Mercury Auto Insurance Coverage: Extra Insurance Options
In addition to the insurance options outlined above, Mercury Insurance also offers policyholders the chance to add the following:
- Rideshare Insurance: The need for this insurance type has grown exponentially in the last few years, with more Uber and Lyft cars on the roads than ever. With rideshare insurance, you’ll be covered when you have passengers in your vehicle. It’s an important consideration if you drive for these services.
- Roadside Assistance: If you’re stranded by the side of the road, roadside assistance will help with towing costs, tire changes, fuel deliveries, and other essentials. It’s worth noting, however, that this service is provided elsewhere and if you have a premium credit card or are part of an auto vehicle organization, you may already be covered.
- Mechanical Breakdown Protection: Will cover the costs associated with a car breakdown and is important if your warranty has expired. A complete breakdown can be costly if you don’t have the necessary warranties, but this coverage option will step in to help.
Mercury Car Insurance Discounts
Mercury offers all the following discounts, allowing policyholders to save big on their insurance premiums:
- RealDrive: The RealDrive program will track how many miles you drive and could offer you discounts if you’re a low mileage driver. Policyholders can save 5% just by signing up, with further discounts to come once the low mileage begins to register.
- Good Student Discount: Save up to 10% if you can achieve and maintain a good grade point average as a student driver.
- Good Credit Discount: Mercury rewards drivers with a good credit score and a clean credit history. In fact, the savings offered here can be as high as 75%, which is more than you find with the majority of other major insurance providers.
- Good Driver Discount: Maintain a good driving record for a discount of between 15% and 20%.
- Student Away Discount: Students who live on campus can save up to 10% on their premiums.
- Anti-Theft Devices: If you have these devices in your car, the risk of theft will be reduced, and Mercury will offer you savings of up to 5%.
- Multi-Car Discount: By adding a second car to your policy you could save as much as 25%.
Other Types of Insurance Policies Offered by Mercury
Mercury offers homeowners insurance, renters insurance, condo insurance, business insurance, umbrella insurance, and commercial auto insurance, although many of these are restricted to just a handful of states and may not be available where you live.
If you purchase car insurance with any of the home insurance options outlined above, you can get a multi-policy discount, also known as bundling. The amount that you can save differs from state to state but averages out at around 10%.
Is Mercury Insurance Available Everywhere?
Mercury is offered in all of the following states:
- Arizona
- California
- Oklahoma
- Florida
- Illinois
- Georgia
- Nevada
- New York
- New Jersey
- Virginia
- Texas
It also offers specific services and coverage options that are limited to a handful of states, such as rideshare insurance, which is offered only in California, Nevada, and Arizona, and commercial insurance, which is offered everywhere except for New Jersey and New York.
Mercury Insurance Claims
To make a claim with Mercury, simply phone the claims hotline (1 (800) 503-3724) any time of the day or night. A support rep will take all information from you, so describe the accident and the damage in as much detail as you can. The claim will be recorded, so you won’t need to repeat yourself in the future.
The rep will walk you through the details of your policy and can also arrange for your car to go to a body shop or to be towed. You can also find a body shop yourself by going through the Mercury website.
Customer Satisfaction
The Mercury Insurance Group has a high financial strength rating from AM Best and good ratings from JD Power. It’s a reputable, established, and award-winning company that has been going strong for over 50 years and has insured millions of drivers in that time.
But as promising as all of this is, there is one thing that lets Mercury down, and that’s its customer support. Mercury scores fairly poorly in this department and while the majority of customers are happy with the service provided, there is a disproportionate number of dissatisfied and even angry consumers.
Bottom Line
Mercury may offer the cheapest insurance rates in your state. It may offer the best coverage options and the most dedicated service. At the same time, you could find a better service and much better prices elsewhere.
Many policyholders switch to Mercury from GEICO and Progressive. In fact, these are the two main providers that Mercury customers switch from. But that does not mean Mercury is better than GEICO and Progressive. And even if it did provide better rates and options for one person, that doesn’t mean it will do the same for you.
That’s why it is important to get auto insurance quotes from multiple providers.
Source: pocketyourdollars.com