Mercury Insurance to take over coverage of California Safeco customers
Mercury Insurance has partnered with Liberty Mutual to provide coverage for thousands of California Safeco Insurance customers impacted by a shift in Liberty Mutual’s personal lines product strategy within the state.
Liberty Mutual will recommend to its appointed independent agents that they place impacted Safeco select auto, renters, and condo policies with Mercury “to ensure a smooth and seamless transition for customers,” a press release from Mercury states.
“Mercury and Safeco have long had a healthy, competitive relationship, sharing a common desire to protect California consumers,” said Mercury CEO Gabriel Tirador in the release. “When Safeco approached us with the idea of transitioning their impacted customers into our portfolio, we saw an opportunity for Mercury to be there for California consumers and agents when they need us most. The result is a win for everyone — their customers and agents, Safeco, and Mercury.
“Mercury demonstrated its commitment to California in a similar way last year when we took on Tokio Marine’s personal lines business following their decision to no longer sell those lines in the state. We believe in California, and we’re excited to welcome Safeco customers into the Mercury family… The steps Commissioner Lara and the California Department of Insurance are taking to modernize the insurance market through the Commissioner’s ‘Sustainable Insurance Strategy’ will help stabilize the market and create a transparent, sustainable model that will benefit California consumers.”
Mercury has been selling insurance through independent agents for more than 60 years, according to the release.
“We are committed to the California insurance market, and independent agents are critical to achieving sustained success,” said Luke Bills, Liberty Mutual’s U.S. retail markets independent agent distribution president, in the release. “This partnership with Mercury ensures they and our customers have a seamless path available for uninterrupted coverage as we focus on our core auto, home, landlord, and liability products throughout the state.”
Nick Colby, Mercury’s vice president and chief sales officer, added, “Safeco customers are similar to ours in terms of their coverage needs and their insurance agent relationships. Many independent agents already represent both Safeco and Mercury, but for those who don’t have a Mercury appointment, we will immediately begin the process of vetting Safeco agents who are interested in a Mercury appointment.”
In March, Liberty Mutual announced it would market and sell all of its personal lines products solely under the Liberty Mutual brand beginning next year.
At the time, Liberty Mutual also said its brand within the independent agent channel, Safeco, would retire as a brand. Safeco customers will keep their agent relationship, and their policies will not be impacted other than the name change, according to a March press release from Liberty Mutual.
During Liberty’s Q4 2024 earnings call, Hamid Talal Mirza, U.S. retail markets executive vice president and president, said the company “took targeted rate decreases to drive growth, reduced underwriting restrictions in nearly all states, and leveraged our strong network of independent agents.”
“We are focused on transforming USRM for the future to be simpler, more efficient, and faster,” he said. “Sunsetting the Safeco brand will allow our independent agents to take advantage of the stronger brand awareness of our Liberty Mutual name nationwide. Further, moving to a single brand will help us take a key step towards simplifying our operations. Overall, the fourth quarter mirrored the strong performance we’ve seen throughout the year. Disciplined underwriting decisions, reduced frequency loss trends, and focused expense management have all played a pivotal role in our strengthened financial results. With profit challenges firmly in the rearview mirror, we are primed to fight for market share in 2025 and beyond.”
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