RJ and Makay

Allstate Corp. has agreed to pay $1 billion to buy online insurance companies Esurance and Answer Financial to capture more business from customers who shop online for insurance.  Allstate is buying the companies from White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd., a Bermuda-based financial services holding company.

Esurance, through its website and 24/7 call center, is the nation’s third-largest provider of auto insurance.  Since 2006, the company has more than doubled the number of its policies and grown premiums by an average of 20% a year.  It sells insurance in thirty states and also offers other personal lines coverage.  The company has a total of 839,000 policies in force, and added approximately 65,000 polices in 2010, an increase of 8%.