Esurance Brings Car Repair Monitoring Service to Facebook

SAN FRANCISCO, July 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Esurance, the direct-to-consumer personal car insurance company, today announced that its RepairView™ online repair monitoring service is available for consumers using Facebook.

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Using RepairView, customers who have filed a claim with Esurance and have their car repaired at one of the 1,000+ Esurance-approved E-star repair facilities nationwide can monitor the entire car repair process from any computer or smartphone and share the photos on Facebook Non-Esurance consumers can access RepairView on their desktop computer and enjoy the same Facebook-sharing functionality.

Once a user connects RepairView to a Facebook account, the most recent repair photos post automatically to their Facebook Wall. This exclusive feature provides consumers a unique mechanism for sharing their photos with their social networks. Esurance is the first car insurance company in the industry to integrate this unique technology into Facebook.

For smartphone users, RepairView is available through Esurance Mobile, the free app for iPhone®, Android™ and Windows® Phone 7 devices. Other smartphone users can access RepairView via the Esurance Mobile website

"Online repair monitoring has been a customer favorite since we first started offering it in 2007," said Joe Laurentino, Esurance vice president of material damage. "Integrating RepairView with Facebook helps us provide a more seamless online experience for customers and leverages the power of social media."        

RepairView offers customers a better claims experience. Recent Esurance statistics found that:

• In the first quarter of 2011, consumers that used RepairView rated their claims experience nine points higher than those that did not.
• Consumers who take advantage of the RepairView integration with Facebook have their car repair photos viewed seven times more often than those who don't (1).
• Women aged 35 and over, in particular, find RepairView's Facebook integration particularly useful: the number of female users in the 35+ demographic who used RepairView via Facebook outnumbered male users by eight percent during the first quarter of 2011.

RepairView's web-enabled system exemplifies the "technology" aspect of Esurance's best-of-both-worlds approach to car insurance, which promises: Technology when you want it. People when you don't™. View a demo of RepairView at www.esurance.com/repairview.

About Esurance®

Esurance, a subsidiary of White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. (NYSE: WTM), provides personal auto insurance direct to consumers online and through select agents, including sister company, Answer Financial. Esurance is dedicated to constantly improving the way people shop for, buy, and manage their auto insurance. By combining the best of technology with industry know-how, Esurance is able to offer hassle-free coverage with 24/7 customer service and claims handling at competitive prices.

Through Esurance's website, www.esurance.com, customers can get instant car insurance quotes, view comparison quotes, buy an Esurance policy, and print their insurance cards— all in minutes. Esurance also offers policyholders the ability to make policy changes and file claims instantly online, demonstrating its commitment to improving the entire insurance process from quote to claim.

Answer Financial, also a subsidiary of White Mountains, is one of the largest independent personal lines insurance agencies in the country. Answer Financial offers comparison quotes and provides auto and property insurance from more than a dozen top-rated insurance companies through its website, www.answerfinancial.com, and over the phone. In May 2011, White Mountains announced that it signed a definitive agreement to sell Esurance and Answer Financial to The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL), the nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurer. The transaction is subject to regulatory and other customary closing conditions, including review by antitrust authorities and state regulators, and is expected to close in the fall of 2011.

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This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included or referenced in this release which address activities, events or developments which we expect or anticipate will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. The words "will," "believe," "intend," "expect," "anticipate," "project," "estimate," "predict" and similar expressions are also intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, among others, statements with respect to White Mountains':

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(1) Data as of February 3, 2011

SOURCE Esurance