public traded as nyse mcy industry insurance founded 1961 headquarters 4484 wilshire boulevard los angeles california key people gabe tirador ceo & president george joseph founder & chairman revenue us 3.09 billion 2006 1 number of employees 5 100 website www.mercuryinsurance.com mercury insurance group is an american automobile and property insurance company founded by george joseph in 1961 . the company is headquartered in los angeles ca . contents 1 history 2 criticism 3 subsidiary workmen s auto insurance company 3.1 history 3.2 current products 3.3 competition and memberships 3.4 legal 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit george joseph founded mercury insurance in 1961 after working in the industry for a few years . created to be a low cost alternative to larger insurance companies mercury insurance found a profitable niche by offering private passenger automobile policies at a reduced premium for better than average risks . the key to this strategy was and continues to be very tight underwriting and tight claims handling . the company operated solely in california until 1990 and since then has started expanding into a few other tough market states where nationwide carriers had ceased to operate . on october 14 2005 fitch ratings affirmed its a long term issuer rating on mercury general corporation and its a rating on mercury s senior unsecured notes due 2011 . 2 criticism edit a march 2007 market conduct exam by the california department of insurance alleged that mercury insurance may have repeatedly engaged in practices that discriminated against active members of the u.s. military the unemployed those of certain occupations such as bartenders and painters and unmarried adults living together . additionally the company was alleged to have been inconsistent in its application of certain discounts which resulted in some of its customers being overcharged . 3 representatives of mercury insurance were quick to argue that the leak of the conduct exam was a politically motivated move meant to benefit california insurance commissioner steve poizner a republican candidate for california governor in the 2010 gubernatorial election . 4 subsidiary workmen s auto insurance company edit workmen s auto insurance company workmen s is a nonstandard auto insurance company . for the first 65 years of business it was family owned and operated by the shammas family . today workmen s is a wholly owned subsidiary of mercury general corporation . the company is headquartered in downtown los angeles . workmen s sells personal lines automobile insurance mainly through independent agents . the company is licensed in 22 states and actively doing business in seven states california florida georgia idaho nebraska nevada and utah . workmen s works with small independent agents often located in small towns and rural areas this is a crucial part of its business model . history edit workmen s auto insurance company was incorporated in 1949 in los angeles california by r. leslie kelley the originator of kelley blue book . in 1959 mr. kelley sold the company to mr. nickolas n. shammas 5 a prominent businessman in downtown los angeles . mr. shammas wanted to diversify his investments believing that insurance nicely balanced his other core businesses automobile dealerships and commercial real estate . 6 during the majority of the 45 years that mr. shammas owned workmen s it was a small california auto insurance company that wrote about 20 to 30 million in premiums each year . in 1987 with the passing of prop 103 workmen s decided to expand beyond california at this point so as not to have all its eggs in the california insurance market basket . mr. shammas died of lung cancer in the summer of 2003 . at that time his eldest daughter carole shammas stepped in to take a more active role in the company . for 14 years the company was owned by 3 generations of the shammas family matriarch jeanette h. shammas 37.4 % daughters carole shammas and diane shammas 60.4 % and granddaughter julia holter 2.2 % . 7 at its height from 2002 to 2005 workmen s conducted business in 16 states and wrote as much as 130 million in premiums . 7 thereafter cyclical trends in insurance and then the great recession of 2008 led the company to downsize . in december 2009 the company s 60th anniversary the brand was refreshed with a new logo website and image . effective january 2 2015 workmen s became a wholly owned subsidiary of mercury general corporation . current products edit auto insurance workmen s offers one main type of policy for vehicle insurance in the united states . they sell non standard car insurance to individuals that are unable to secure coverage through standard insurance companies . this can be due to a driving record with accidents and or tickets prior dui the driver s age vehicle type or others . competition and memberships edit workmen s competitors vary depending on the state but in general its major competitors include infinity property & casualty corporation dairyland also known as sentry insurance access alliance united and foremost acquired by farmers insurance group . workmen s is a member of pci 8 property casualty insurers association of america and very active in its local affiliate acic . 9 as a small company it is not rated by a.m. best . legal edit workmen s in order to be compliant with the law each year has to file an annual statement with the california department of insurance . 10 11 the company is also required to have a national association of insurance commissioners number naic 13250 . this number is required to be used at all times as it allows naic to regulate all insurance companies conduct in the respective state or territory they have business in order to protect the interests of insurance consumers . 12 13 see also edit los angeles portal companies portal list of united states insurance companies references edit mcy key statistics for mercury general cp yahoo finance fitch affirms mercury general s senior debt & ifs ratings . http www.sfgate.com cgi bin blogs nov05election detail entry id 61065 http articles.latimes.com 2010 apr 13 business la fi mercury13 2010apr13 nickolas n. shammas . the shammas group . a b workmen s annual statement filed with the california department of insurance pdf . pci . acic . oficcially filed reports of examination . cdi workmen s company profile . naic pdf . naic s website . external links edit mercury insurance group s website workmen s auto insurance company s website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title mercury insurance group & oldid 744232839 categories companies listed on the new york stock exchangeinsurance companies of the united statesamerican companies established in 1949american companies established in 1961companies based in los angelesauto insurance in the united states navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants 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