Esurance auto insurance

Overview

Esurance was one of the first companies to sell car insurance entirely online, and for most of the 2010s it was Allstate's brand for drivers who wanted to buy without an agent. Allstate stopped using the brand in 2020. In December 2019 it said it would phase out the Esurance name, and from the third quarter of 2020 it reported Esurance results as part of the Allstate brand. Allstate now sells to direct, online buyers under its own name.

Esurance premiums have always counted toward the Allstate Insurance Group, which ranked #4 among U.S. private passenger auto insurers by 2025 direct premiums written according to NAIC market share data. Allstate last reported Esurance as a separate brand in its 2019 annual report. That year Esurance wrote $1.99 billion in auto premiums and $2.11 billion in total, 6.0% of Allstate's property-liability written premium. It sold auto insurance in 43 states and homeowners insurance in 31.

The brand is gone, but several companies with the Esurance name are still part of Allstate. Allstate's 2025 annual report lists subsidiaries including Esurance Insurance Company, Esurance Property and Casualty Insurance Company, Esurance Insurance Company of New Jersey and Esurance Insurance Services, Inc. The esurance.com website still runs a policyholder login, a payment page and claims contacts.

History

Esurance sold its first policy in 1999 and was based in San Francisco. It was built as a direct writer selling online and later through call centers, and its slogan was making insurance "surprisingly painless." Before 2011 it was owned by White Mountains Insurance Group. Besides selling directly, Esurance also sold through a few agents, including its sister company Answer Financial, an online insurance comparison agency. Its advertising in that decade starred Erin Esurance, an animated pink-haired spy who was dropped in 2010.

In 2011 Allstate agreed to buy White Mountains, Inc., the holding company for Esurance, together with the online insurance agency Answer Financial, for $1 billion in cash. White Mountains announced that the sale closed on October 7, 2011. Under Allstate, Esurance kept its own brand and advertising. By 2019 it was 2.4 times bigger by written premium than when Allstate bought it, although its auto business still lost money on underwriting, with a 2019 combined ratio of 102.4.

On December 19, 2019, Allstate announced a "Transformative Growth" plan. Because every customer would be able to buy Allstate directly, it said it no longer needed two brands for direct sales, and Esurance would be folded into the Allstate brand in 2020. Allstate took a $51 million pre-tax charge to write down the value of the Esurance trade name and moved the brand's advertising budget to Allstate. Allstate's 2020 annual report confirmed that Esurance results were combined into the Allstate brand in the third quarter of 2020.

Auto insurance coverage

Esurance's car insurance page still lists the coverages it sold. These include bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, collision, comprehensive, medical payments and personal injury protection. Optional add-ons were emergency roadside assistance, rental car coverage and loan/lease gap coverage. It also offered ShareSmart, a rideshare coverage add-on meant to fill the gap between a driver's personal policy and the coverage provided by companies like Uber or Lyft, though not in every state. Esurance also wrote renters, homeowners and motorcycle insurance and let customers add renters coverage to an auto policy.

Allstate has not said publicly how each remaining Esurance policy is handled at renewal. If you still have Esurance paperwork, check your latest declarations page to see which company issues your policy, or log in at esurance.com.

Discounts and programs

Esurance's main program was DriveSense, a telematics discount that used a smartphone app to score driving habits and reward safe drivers. Allstate reported that DriveSense was available in 37 states at the end of both 2019 and 2020. Allstate has since standardized on its own programs, Drivewise and the pay-per-mile Milewise, which are covered on the Allstate page. For a comparison of these programs, see telematics programs from the major insurers compared.

Claims

Esurance's website still lists 800-378-7262 (1-800-ESURANCE) for reporting a claim, 24 hours a day, and offers online photo claims through the customer login. The same site sends customers looking for a repair shop to Allstate's shop locator. If your policy is now an Allstate policy, use Allstate's claims line, 800-255-7828, or the Allstate app.

Esurance has also faced litigation over total-loss payments. Allstate's 2025 annual report lists Katz v. Esurance Property and Casualty Insurance Company and National General Insurance Company, filed in February 2024 in federal court in New York, among putative class actions alleging underpaid total-loss vehicle claims. No class had been certified as of that report.

Ratings and reputation

The Esurance companies belong to Allstate. In August 2025 AM Best affirmed an A- financial strength rating, with a negative outlook, for the Allstate New Jersey group, which includes Esurance Insurance Company of New Jersey. Allstate's main insurance companies are rated A+ (Superior); see the Allstate profile for details.

Esurance is no longer ranked as a separate brand in J.D. Power's current auto insurance studies. Its customers and claims are now measured under Allstate.

Who it suits

You cannot buy a new Esurance policy under the brand's own name today. This page is mainly for former customers who need help with a policy, a claim or old records, and for anyone trying to work out what happened to the brand. Drivers who liked Esurance's fully online approach can now buy Allstate directly online, or look at other digital-first insurers such as Root and Lemonade.

• Strengths: Backed by Allstate, one of the country's largest auto insurers; esurance.com still offers login, payments and a 24/7 claims number; an early pioneer of online quoting and buying.
• Weaknesses: The brand no longer competes for new customers, and its DriveSense program has been replaced by Allstate's own programs; its auto business lost money on underwriting in its last reported year (2019 combined ratio 102.4); the Esurance-named New Jersey company carries a lower AM Best rating (A-, negative outlook, August 2025) than Allstate's main companies.

How to contact Esurance