NEWS RELEASE
CONTACT: Doug Heller, 310-392-0522, ext. 309; or Naomi Seligman, 310-392-0522, ext. 318
Santa Monica, CA — Struggling with months of negative publicity because it has been exposed for discriminating and illegal overcharging of its customers, Mercury Insurance this week has poured another $2 million into its campaign for Prop 17 on the June ballot.
Mercury is throwing millions more into its proposition to contend with high-profile editorial boards across the state that have come out squarely against Prop 17 including most recently, the Los Angeles Times, the Sacramento Bee, the San Francisco Chronicle and Long Beach Press-Telegram. More editorials can be read here: http://www.stopprop17.org/editorials/
Mercury, which has been airing radio ads for months, is expected to launch its first wave of television commercials shortly. Prop 17 would allow insurance companies to increase premiums for California drivers based on their history of purchasing auto insurance.
“Mercury wants to hide behind millions and millions of dollars in deceptive advertising to pass its self-serving initiative,” said Doug Heller with Stop Prop 17. “Voters can be sure of one thing: insurance companies don’t spend millions on a ballot measure to save Californians money.”
To date, Mercury has spent $7.25 million on its Prop 17 campaign.
Regulators Find Wide Ranging Violations by Mercury
Earlier this month, the California Department of Insurance announced that it recently finalized a major investigation of Mercury and turned up 54 different violations, including illegal surcharging of consumers, failing to give customers proper discounts and failing to correct errors from prior investigations despite company promises to do so. The Department has filed a “Notice of Noncompliance” lawsuit against Mercury and could fine the company millions of dollars and force Mercury to make refunds to thousands of customers. More information about the Department investigation is available at http://bit.ly/9GMtFl
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For more information, please visit: http://StopProp17.org or find us on twitter at: http://twitter.com/stopmercury and facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/stopprop17
Tags: deceptive, Mercury, News Release, overcharges, scandal
