Archive for the ‘Mercury Insurance’ Category

Unitrin Auto Insurance and Stolen Cars

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) put together a list of the 20 cities and metro areas where you are most likely to get your car stolen, according to Insure.com’s Joe Taylor.  In “The best places to get  your car stolen,” California cities show up 11 times in the top 20 list.  For Mercury Insurance and other California insurers, this is unfortunate news since more stolen cars mean more money being paid to consumers who have car insurance.  With the exceptions of Detroit, Michigan and Yakima and Spokane, Washington all of the cities are located in the south.  Most are actually in western states.  Laredo, Texas came in first place.  Living in one of these zip codes can significantly increase the amount that you pay for car insurance.

Unitrin Auto Insurance and other car insurance companies have tips to help consumers avoid getting their cars stolen.  Have a visible or audible alarm system arming your car.  Whether they hear the sound or see a tracking code on your windows, an alarm system might be enough to deter a thief.  There are electronic devices like “smart keys” available for purchase that will immobilize your car if someone breaks in and tries to hot-wire it.  Through satellite systems and cell tower technology, police can track and relocate stolen cars so having one of those systems can be beneficial.  Basic common sense is also very important in keeping car thieves away.  Park where it is well-lit, don’t leave your keys in the car, and always lock your car and put all windows up.  Keep those thieves away.

Mercury Insurance Chairman Talks Prop 17

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Proposition 17 will be on California voters’ ballots in June, according to Steve Lopez of the Los Angeles Times.  Lopez sat down with the Chairman of Mercury Insurance, George Joseph, for his article “Talking car insurance with Mercury’s top man.”  Joseph is bankrolling Prop 17 because he says it is in the best interest of California drivers.   While Mercury often gets bad press in California, they offer customers low rates and have been the leading independent car insurance broker in California for nearly 50 years.  Maybe the bad press comes from competitors’ attacks?  As a Mercury Insurance customer, Lopez wanted to talk with Mr. Joseph to get his side.

Proposition 17 would offer loyalty discounts to customers even when they switch companies.  If a good customer was insured through Bristol West Car Insurance for years and switched to Mercury Insurance, or vice verse, they could retain their customer loyalty discount.  This sounds like a great advantage for California drivers, but Mercury adversary Consumer Watchdog believes differently.  The company  said that along with that small discount to some consumers would come large increases for others.  They believe that a lot more uninsured drivers would be on the road because of the surcharges that would be implemented for drivers who do not have the industry standard ‘perfect’ records.  This battle will remain strong until the vote in June.