INSURANCE

Mercury Files for Rate Cut: Mercury General Corp. said it has applied to the state Insurance Department for reductions that will average about 1.7% on its auto insurance policies. The cuts would affect customers of the company’s Mercury Insurance Co. and Mercury Casualty Co. units, California’s ninth- and 10th-largest auto insurers, respectively. For certain new customers, the cuts would be as much as 20%. Those reductions would be achieved by rate increases for some existing customers, but Mercury said the rates are designed so that no class of customers would see an increase of more than 3%.