In another of Allstate Corp’s efforts to become a larger part of the online insurance marketplace for consumers who prefer to use the internet for their insurance transactions, the company has acquired Answer Financial and Esurance from White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. for $1 billion.
Allstate, a leading national home and auto insurance company based in Northbrook, has stated that it will be maintaining the Esurance headquarters in San Francisco, and that Answer Financial will remain in Los Angeles.
As a result of this deal for the online auto insurance provider, it is predicted that the online business at Allstate will more than double. As of the figures from May 2011, it would still put Allstate in sixth place, well behind Geico, which is easily the leader in that segment of the market.
Geico currently holds 38 percent of the online and phone auto insurance marketplace, far ahead of its nearest competition in that segment.
The deal with Esurance, an online auto insurance provider, offers Allstate a notable boost into that channel, reaching 4 percent.
That said, it is still a step behind Hartford, which has 5 percent. Equally, though, it has leapt ahead of Liberty Mutual, which sits at 3 percent of the market. These figures, according to those presented by Allstate as they made market share estimates in their unveiling of the acquisition.