Leaky adds Esurance to auto insurance comparisons • Hacker News Board

Re: Leaky adds Esurance to auto insurance comparisons

#21

Post by mikepmalai » Tue, May 22, 2012, 8:27 PM UTC

maxerickson wrote: post #8

jasontraff wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks! (and I think they're #3, but considering how much smaller they are than most of the insurance companies - they're doing a pretty good job)

Is it reasonable to consider them separately from Allstate?

Hybrid. Appears they'll operate separately but All State will play a big role in improving their pricing and claims process.

Should be interesting to see how Allstate balances Esurance pricing versus pricing through their traditional captive agent base.

Re: Leaky adds Esurance to auto insurance comparisons

#22

Post by debacle » Tue, May 22, 2012, 8:37 PM UTC

I don't mean to be a downer, but this just isn't going to work. Insurance companies are very covetous of their models and I don't think Leaky really has much to offer to suppliers.

I realize that admitted carrier information is publicly available, but I'm not sure how Leaky could ever be profitable. The commission on an auto policy is almost nil (the common mantra is "If you touch it, you lose money."). Insureds will gain, but trying to create a race to the bottom with suppliers is a recipe for disaster in the insurance industry. Being a broker is about providing a service to insureds and suppliers, not merely one or the other.

What's the end goal, besides potentially disrupting the auto insurance industry in the short term?

Re: Leaky adds Esurance to auto insurance comparisons

#23

Post by r00fus » Tue, May 22, 2012, 8:38 PM UTC

Love the idea. One minor quibble so far - the email field on your main page should b html5 email so mobile browsers can ignore initial caps and show an email oriented keyboard.

Re: Leaky adds Esurance to auto insurance comparisons

#24

Post by jasontraff » Tue, May 22, 2012, 8:39 PM UTC

maxerickson wrote: post #15

jasontraff wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think so - at least for now. Heck, I'd imagine that's a significant reason that Allstate ended up acquiring them. In any event, the pricing structures are different so it still makes sense to compare them separately.

Sorry, I was talking more about calling them a relatively small company. Considering the products separately makes sense.

Ah, hehe, yeah. That comes from comments I've heard from some of their employees about how well they've done against their competitors given their 'relatively smaller' resources/teams/ad spend.

Re: Leaky adds Esurance to auto insurance comparisons

#25

Post by bs0101 » Tue, May 22, 2012, 8:56 PM UTC

Jason. Happy to hear you were able to push through the initial issues that appeared. Hoping you could clarify something for me. I know company / process you are using for the historical data, but is this article saying that are you pinging esurance's API directly for quotes? Thanks, and congratulations again.

Re: Leaky adds Esurance to auto insurance comparisons

#26

Post by jasontraff » Tue, May 22, 2012, 9:43 PM UTC

bs0101 wrote: post #25

Jason. Happy to hear you were able to push through the initial issues that appeared. Hoping you could clarify something for me. I know company / process you are using for the historical data, but is this article saying that are you pinging esurance's API directly for quotes? Thanks, and congratulations again.

Thanks! And no, we aren't using an API for these prices; they are just our own unendorsed/unaffiliated estimations :)

Re: Leaky adds Esurance to auto insurance comparisons

#27

Post by Oscarus » Tue, May 22, 2012, 9:45 PM UTC

Another insurer to add: Wawanesa. They supposedly have the cheapest rates, consistently, if you have a clean record. If you don't, they won't insure you.

Re: Leaky adds Esurance to auto insurance comparisons

#28

Post by bonbonbon » Wed, May 23, 2012, 1:00 AM UTC

thawy wrote: post #7

jasontraff wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks! Who'd have thought someone would say that an insurance comparison site has a 'fun to use' interface! We run lots of randomized test cases for our accuracy, if your prices have been off by more than 3% - please email us at sayhi@leaky.com with the email address you used on the site. We'll (anonymously) add you to our test cases. Accuracy is a big focus for us; for example, when we added Esurance, it tested wit…

I can't wait to see the accuracy data. As an insurance industry veteran, it's frankly shocking to me that you could average better than +/- 20% using filed rates. I'm especially curious how you are getting within 1-3% on Progressive's rates without running their proprietary credit model.

I would assume that they are testing their accuracy only via these insurers websites, not real policies. Going through geico's site, it doesn't seem to need any credit/real identification, so they probably aren't running a credit model (at least to get to an estimated quote).