Esurance Review

Esurance is one of the most recognized names in insurance these days.

You may remember their earlier marketing, which featured Erin Esurance, the eerily attractive cartoon insurance chick.

More recently, they’ve switched to a series of silly office-based television commercials highlighting “The Saver,” which we have to admit are pretty funny.

So that tells us they’ve got a great marketing team, but not a whole lot about what they actually do or offer.

Fortunately, we’ve done the research and compiled some useful information regarding Esurance and their suite of offerings.

What is Esurance?

The “truth” is Esurance is a lot of different things, depending on what type of insurance you’re trying to purchase from them. Just like Progressive and GEICO, they are an actual auto insurance company that also acts as a broker in some cases.

Insurance is a “marketing” business. The insurance products and services available to the public are, for the most part, all relatively the same. The company that issues the most policies (their own product) or “brokers” (selling you another insurer’s product) wins.

This is often the company the best appeals to a particular emotional buying impulse of ours. Have you noticed State Farm’s recent “push” into the market of the young and cool urban dweller? Clearly they see an opportunity in a market they don’t already “own” and are looking for market share among youngsters.

Insurance advertising giants would be insane to not “cross sell” everyone they attract. Maybe they only offer auto insurance.

But if they’ve got you on the phone, why not offer home, boat, life or health insurance from a “partner” company? They may not get your premium dollars, but they can still earn a commission.

Esurance Auto Insurance

Spoiler alert! Esurance is actually a car insurance company. They are owned by White Mountains Insurance Group – a VERY large insurer. ***Allstate just announced (5/18/11) that it will buy Esurance for roughly $1 billion***

We are talking billions of dollars in assets here folks. They also hold a coveted “Excellent” rating by AM BEST (insurance company ratings).

So if you buy an auto policy from Esurance, they will collect your insurance premium and write the check if a covered insurance claim occurs.

They offer everything from liability only to full coverage auto ( liability and physical damage), so you’re able to obtain any coverage you may be looking for from Esurance. Nothing groundbreaking here.

Esurance Home & Renters Insurance

This is where it may get a little murky. You can call Esurance and purchase a homeowners insurance or renters insurance policy, but you will actually be offered coverage via Answer Financial, Inc. (which is also now owned by Allstate).

Answer Financial is selling you a product underwritten by one or more Safeco Insurance companies. They may also offer you products from other third party insurers who remain unnamed.

Note: Claims processing is done by the underwriting company, not Esurance.

Esurance Motorcycle Insurance

The plot thickens. You will receive a Progressive policy when you purchase motorcycle insurance coverage from Esurance. Read more about Progressive motorcycle insurance.

While Esurance doesn’t work with you on claims here (that’s Progressive’s job), they appear to at least provide customer service.

Esurance Life & Health Insurance

The life & health insurance offerings from Esurance have even less to do with Esurance. All coverage for these two lines of insurance is offered solely through unaffiliated partners of Esurance.

This means Esurance does not underwrite, provide customer service, or have anything to do with claims when it comes to life & health…but they still utilize their marketing to make a buck on the transaction.

Final Word on Esurance

Esurance may be a useful tool for obtaining premium quotes and purchasing auto insurance if you’re comfortable going it alone.

But if you want a local agent you can bother in the event you’re unhappy with anything, the company may not be for you.

When it comes to property insurance (home and renters) or life & health, you may want to go the route of a local independent insurance agent to ensure you get the coverage you need at the price you want.

Let’s face it; you’ll already be using an agent/broker if you purchase anything other than auto from Esurance, so you might as well use a local agent who can shop around more and provide that personal touch.

Update: We wrote and posted this article on 5/17/11, only to find out that Allstate agreed to buy Esurance a day later.  Esurance will remain its own brand, but will act as a new channel for Allstate.

(photo: Wade Rockett)