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Esurance Review: Auto Insurance |
| Request a quote from Esurance | |
Rating: |
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| Quick quote and purchase process; average customer service levels | |
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Esurance is recognized for two things - their online approach to the insurance business and their animated commercials. When Esurance first set up shop almost 10 years ago, not many companies were using the Internet as a tool. Esurance developed an innovative approach to selling insurance online and made a name for themselves doing it. Although Esurance has not been around as long as their competitors, they have an "excellent" financial strength rating from an independent assessor, which is something you should always look for in an insurance company as it indicates their ability to pay out on policies.
Pricing We created several different scenarios in order to determine how each auto insurance company fared from a pricing perspective. Six different quotes were gathered, from three different age ranges and two different cities. Every quote was for a male driving a 2005 Audi Quattro with a clean driving record. In the end, Esurance provided middle-of-the-pack pricing. We did find they were on the slightly more expensive side for an urban city dweller, but as insurance quotes take many different factors into consideration when it comes to pricing, you should get your own quote to see real-time pricing. Shopping Experience The Esurance quote process was quick, but it didn't offer a Spanish version of the site like some of the other companies we reviewed did. On each page they have a section where you should indicate which discount you qualify for. Their Privacy Policy appears at the top of the Driver Information screen, and you are required to agree to this policy in order to move forward. If you don't, the website directs you to contact an agent directly via the phone to request a quote. The right side of the screen displays a toll-free number, and also has a feature that requests a call from an agent. Esurance asks for your entire SSN, the only site we reviewed that does this. They explain on screen they need it to verify your driving record, but don't require it for the online quote. They also ask you detailed information about your current auto insurance policy (if you have one), including how much you pay for it. We weren't able to deduce why they need this info, as the final quote they showed didn't match up with the current insurance limits we had entered. The final quote is displayed in a very user-friendly format, clearly indicating which type of discounts you received (but not displaying the amount you saved) and allowing you to edit your policy information. Each portion of your coverage indicates the cost it adds to the total policy amount, a nice feature. Esurance offers several quotes at different price points and coverage levels, and allows you to either pay the entire premium at once or divide it into monthly payments. They also offer two ways to buy: either purchase online or speak to an agent. If you continue online you'll be required to provide your social security number and other confidential information so Esurance can confirm your quote. The final quote also has a customer-friendly quote feature that will automatically calculate and display pricing for the same insurance coverage from other insurance companies. Although Progressive offers this feature too, we preferred the Esurance experience because we didn't need to enter any additional information to obtain these quotes and the site even allows you to directly buy insurance from one of these other companies. Bottom Line Esurance's award-winning website expedites the quote and purchase process and even allows customers to purchase insurance from competing insurance providers, a feature our reviewers appreciated. Their pricing was also in the same ballpark as other auto insurance companies, so in all likelihood you'll get a fair deal. An independent survey by JD Power has rated overall customer satisfaction with Esurance as "average". Overall, we found Esurance to be a solid pick. Esurance offers insurance in the following states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin Request a quote from Esurance | Compare to Other Auto Insurance |
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| Claim Contact Options: | Via online form or phone |
| Estimated Quote*: | 29 yr man = $86/mo 37 yr man = $99/mo 65 yr man = $106/mo |
| Shopping Experience: | User friendly and fast, but no Spanish version |
| Claim Satisfaction**: | not available |
| Overall Satisfaction**: |  |
**Based on JD Power and Associates 2009/2010 Ratings
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