Why Did My Mercury Insurance Go Up?

If your Mercury car insurance went up, the biggest reason in the records is California: Mercury's parent company says the California Department of Insurance approved a 22.5% rate increase for Mercury Insurance Company's private passenger auto line in January 2024, after two increases of 6.9% and 6.99% in 2023 ^{1 2}. In Texas, Mercury's county mutual filed a string of increases from late 2021 through mid-2024, then a 2.0% decrease in September 2025 ⁴.

Each of those percentages is an average across the company's existing policyholders on that line, not a forecast for any one bill. If your own renewal rose, the cause may be the company and state on your policy, or a change in your driving record, vehicle, address or coverage. This page lays out what Mercury's filings and Texas records show. We are not affiliated with the insurers named.

Mercury Insurance is the brand. The holding company, Mercury General Corporation, writes mainly personal auto insurance through 12 insurance subsidiaries in 11 states, principally California ¹. Its annual report lists the states as Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia, and says about 86% of its private passenger auto premiums in 2025 were written in California ¹. Most policies are sold through independent agents ¹.

The companies that matter most for auto are:

• Mercury Insurance Company and California Automobile Insurance Company, both California insurers. Their private passenger auto business made up about 49% and 6% of Mercury's total net premiums earned in 2025 ¹.
• Mercury Casualty Company, the original company, founded in 1961, whose primary states are California, Arizona, Nevada, New York and Virginia ¹.
• Mercury County Mutual Insurance Company in Texas, which Mercury does not own but controls through a management contract ¹.

The company named on your declarations page is the one whose rates apply to you.

California requires insurers to get the Department of Insurance's prior approval before changing rates, and Mercury notes that consumer groups there can intervene in rate filings, which it says often delays approvals ¹. Mercury's annual reports on Form 10-K say the department approved these private passenger auto increases ^{1 2}:

A California Mercury Insurance Company policy that renewed after February 2024 may reflect all three of its increases. The annual report gives approval months and effective months but not the requested figures, so we do not report what Mercury first asked for.

The newest step is a request, not an approval. In its report for the second quarter of 2026, Mercury said it intends to file an application with the California Department of Insurance in August 2026 for an increase of about 6% on its California private passenger auto line, with a July 2027 effective date ³. We could not find a published decision on that application.

Mercury's own numbers show why. Its combined ratio for private passenger auto alone, which compares claims and expenses with premiums, was 110.3% in 2022 and 103.0% in 2023 ¹. A combined ratio above 100% means the business paid out more than it took in. After the rate increases, the figure fell to 93.1% in 2024 and 89.5% in 2025 ¹.

The company ties the improvement to price. It says its 2025 net premiums earned rose 8.5%, primarily because of rate increases in its California auto and homeowners lines and more policies written ¹. Its loss ratio excluding catastrophe losses and prior-year loss development also improved in 2025, which it attributes to those rate increases and fewer California auto claims, partly offset by higher loss severity, meaning the average cost of a claim, in California private passenger auto ¹. It reported the same offset from higher auto loss severity in the first half of 2026 ³. Mercury's annual report lists inflation in repair costs, parts costs, vehicle values and medical costs among the factors that hurt auto cost trends ¹.

Texas does not set auto rates; insurers file them with the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI). TDI describes a filing's percent change as the estimated impact on existing policyholders, a "pending" filing as one TDI is still reviewing and a closed filing with the closed type "Reviewed" as one TDI reviewed and closed ⁵. That is TDI's wording, not an approval.

These are Mercury County Mutual Insurance Company's personal auto filings since late 2021, newest first ⁴:

Eight increases in under three years add up for a Texas customer who renewed through all of them. Since mid-2024 the filings have been flat or down. TDI says a 0% change means only rules or other items that do not affect the premium changed, or that the overall effect on policyholders is zero ⁵.

A flat or falling company average and a higher renewal can both be true:

• Your record changed. A new at-fault accident, claim or ticket can add a surcharge. See how tickets and accidents affect car insurance.
• Your vehicle or drivers changed. A newer car or a new driver, especially a teen, can raise the bill. See adding a teen driver.
• You moved. Rates vary by ZIP code.
• A discount ended, such as a multi-policy discount. See why discounts disappear at renewal.
• Timing. A rate change reaches each policy only at its first renewal on or after the effective date, so an increase approved months ago may show up on your bill now.
• Repair and claim costs. Mercury itself reported higher loss severity in California auto in 2025 ¹; our page on how repair costs push car insurance up explains the trend.

1. Find the insurer's name on your declarations page: Mercury Insurance Company, California Automobile Insurance Company, Mercury Casualty Company, Mercury County Mutual Insurance Company or another Mercury company.
2. Compare the renewal with last term line by line. Our guide to reading a renewal notice shows where to look.
3. Ask your agent what changed: drivers, vehicles, coverages, discounts or rating factors.
4. Look up the filing. Our explainer on what a rate filing is covers how to read one. See the California, Texas, Arizona and Florida pages, or the states hub, for how rates work where you live.
5. Compare quotes from several insurers before the renewal date. You can compare quotes here.
6. Contact your state insurance department with questions about how your policy was rated.

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For causes that apply at any insurer, see why car insurance goes up and why car insurance goes up with no accident. For other large California auto insurers, see why Farmers insurance goes up and why State Farm insurance goes up.

• ¹ Official record: Mercury General Corporation's 2025 Form 10-K, for the company structure, the 11 states, the California share of auto premiums, the 49% and 6% premium shares, the January 2024 approvals of 22.5% and 3.8%, the private passenger auto combined ratios for 2022 to 2025, the 8.5% growth in net premiums earned and the company's explanation of rate increases and loss severity, checked October 14, 2026.
• ² Official record: Mercury General Corporation's 2024 Form 10-K, for the 6.9% and 6.99% California private passenger auto increases approved in 2023 and their effective months, checked October 14, 2026.
• ³ Official record: Mercury General Corporation's Form 10-Q for the second quarter of 2026, for its stated intent to file for about 6% in California with a July 2027 effective date and for rising loss severity in 2026, checked October 14, 2026.
• ⁴ Official record: TDI's public rate filing data on data.texas.gov for Mercury County Mutual Insurance Company (received dates, products, percent changes, renewal effective dates, status and closed type), checked October 14, 2026.
• ⁵ Official record: TDI's rate filing page defining percent change, pending and closed status, the "Reviewed" closed type and a 0% change, checked October 14, 2026.