esure: car and home insurance, cover and claims

esure is a UK insurer best known for car and home cover, sold direct rather than through brokers. Its car policies come in two comprehensive versions, esure Car Insurance and esure Flex, and its home cover runs from contents-only through to a combined buildings and contents policy, with an Advantage Home Insurance product that is not sold through price comparison sites¹.

It does not sell third party only car insurance, and it does not offer third party, fire and theft to new customers, so every car policy it sells is comprehensive⁴. Alongside the main policies it sells optional extras, including breakdown cover, motor legal protection, car hire, key cover and excess protection, most of which can be added to an existing policy by phone⁶.

esure sells car, home and travel insurance, and it underwrites its own car cover and several of the extras rather than passing them to another insurer¹⁰. The firm is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority¹².

What esure offers: car and home insurance

esure's business is general insurance for individuals. Its two car products, esure Car Insurance and esure Flex Car Insurance, both offer comprehensive cover but differ in what is included and in how claims are handled¹. Its home products cover buildings, contents or both, and the Advantage Home Insurance policy adds home emergency cover as standard².

The car policies include windscreen cover, an uninsured driver promise, a vandalism promise, a legal advice helpline, a 24 hour emergency helpline, new car replacement benefit, accident repair redelivery and a courtesy car while yours is being repaired¹. The electric car policy adds cover to drive other cars, legal liability cover, a motoring legal advice helpline, 24-7 online claims and a 5-year repair guarantee¹⁷.

Home cover includes escape of water, storm and flood, theft and attempted theft, and alternative accommodation if your home becomes uninhabitable². Buildings cover is unlimited, and contents cover is set by the policyholder².

esure also sells travel insurance, which is covered in its own section below. For the wider market, see the insurance guide and the insurers directory.

esure car insurance: what comprehensive cover includes

Comprehensive insurance is the same thing as fully comprehensive insurance, and esure describes it as one of the highest levels of protection available⁴. It covers the same ground as third party only and third party, fire and theft, and adds cover for your own car in an accident⁴.

Third party only, for comparison, covers the cost of fixing the other driver's car, damage to their property, and compensation for injuries they sustain if you are at fault. It does not cover damage to your own car⁵. esure does not sell that level of cover, and does not offer third party, fire and theft to new customers⁴.

The esure Flex policy includes third party only cover when you drive other cars, where your certificate of insurance says so¹². Windscreen claims under the motor policy do not affect your No Claim Discount¹⁰. If you use a repairer that is not on esure's recommended list, esure Flex will not provide a courtesy car¹².

Cover abroad extends to any country in the EU, plus Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Serbia and Switzerland, and applies to additional drivers named on the policy¹⁸. For the wider picture on motor cover, see the insurance guide.

Optional extras you can add to an esure car policy

The extras sit on top of the main policy and are priced separately, so the cost depends on the cover chosen and the vehicle. Most can be added to an existing policy by calling 0345 603 7879⁸.

No Claim Discount protection is also available as an extra. If you have four or more years of No Claim Discount, you may be able to protect it for the life of the policy for an additional premium, added only at the start of a policy or at renewal¹⁰. Cover under optional extras and lifestyle packs may be provided by other underwriters, whose details appear in the relevant policy booklet¹².

esure home insurance: buildings, contents or combined

Combined home insurance protects your house and its contents². Buildings cover is unlimited, and contents cover is whatever sum the policyholder specifies².

Buildings cover includes unlimited sale of your home cover, unlimited emergency entry and unlimited underground services⁶. Contents policies can add specified items over £1,500, and personal possessions cover can be added to a combined home policy or contents insurance²².

esure Advantage Home Insurance includes home emergency cover as standard and is not available through price comparison websites³. Home insurance policies run for 12 months, and esure says it will not change the terms and conditions during the term, telling customers before renewal if anything changes²⁴.

Two things esure does not sell as standalone products are mobile phone cover and laptop insurance. Mobile phone cover is not offered on its own, and neither is laptop insurance, though a laptop may already be covered under home contents insurance²³. For the wider market, see the insurance guide.

Sheilas' Wheels and esure's other brands

esure's brands include esure, esure Flex, esure Multicar, esure Home, Sheilas' Wheels, Sheilas' Wheels Essentials, Sheilas' Wheels Multicar, Sheilas' Wheels Home and First Alternative¹⁶. The FCA register lists Sheilas' Wheels, First Alternative, esure.com and esure as current trading names for the firm¹⁴. Sheilas' Wheels has its own page.

The register also shows previous names including Sainsbury's Car Insurance, Sainsbury's Bank Car Insurance and Halifax Car Insurance, which reflects insurance the firm underwrote in the past rather than products it sells today¹⁴. Sainsbury's Bank Car Insurance has its own page.

What esure does not sell

esure does not offer roadside assistance or third party only insurance, and it does not sell third party, fire and theft to new customers⁵. It does not offer standalone mobile phone cover or standalone laptop insurance²³. Personal injury benefit cannot be added to esure Flex Car Insurance policies²¹.

esure states that it does not provide advice or recommendations about the products and services it offers, and that it does not hold client money²⁰. The same point appears in the esure Flex documents: esure does not advise on whether a particular product or optional extra meets your insurance requirements¹².

Advantage Home Insurance is not sold through price comparison websites, so it will not appear in those results³. If you are comparing cover across the market, the insurance guide sets out how the main types fit together.

Proving your No Claim Discount to esure

Your No Claim Discount is shown in your schedule of insurance, which you can view or download by logging in to your account²⁶. When you take out a policy, esure requires evidence of the No Claim Discount you have declared¹⁵.

esure accepts either the page of your renewal invitation that shows your No Claim Discount years, or a letter from your previous insurer confirming those years²⁶. The document must be dated within two years of your new policy's start date, and sent within 28 days of the policy's start date²⁶. You can send a PDF or a photo of the document by email, or send it by post²⁶.

If you have not protected your No Claim Discount, it is reduced by two years for each non-recoverable claim within a policy year¹⁰. Windscreen claims do not affect it, and neither do claims under key cover or motoring legal protection¹⁰.

Renewing or cancelling an esure policy

Automatic renewal is available if you pay by Direct Debit²⁷. If your policy is set to renew automatically, you need to contact esure at least four days before your renewal date to make changes or stop it²⁷. For car policies, esure asks for at least five days' notice if you do not wish to renew or want to change your payment method¹⁰. Home insurance customers are given details of renewal terms at least three weeks before the renewal date²⁴.

Both car and home policies carry a 14-day cooling-off period: from the date you receive your documents if you are a new customer, or from your renewal date if you are an existing customer¹⁰. Cancelling within that window gives a refund less an administration fee, provided no incidents have arisen¹⁰. esure charges a cancellation fee, set out in your agreement with it¹⁵.

esure can cancel a policy at any time with seven days' notice in writing where there is a valid reason, such as uncollected premium, failure to co-operate, a breach of the duty of care, suspected fraud, or abusive behaviour towards staff¹⁰. To cancel a home policy, call customer service on 0345 601 7074 or write to The Equinox, 19 Cadogan Street, Glasgow, G2 6QQ. Cancellations cannot be backdated, and cancelling a Direct Debit does not cancel the policy²⁴.

Claims and complaints: esure's record

esure says it paid out on 97% of pursued car claims in 2025, based on 112,236 car insurance claims notified and pursued by its customers. That figure excludes enquiries that did not become claims, claims logged in error, and claims later abandoned or withdrawn¹⁰.

On complaints, esure opened 12,179 complaints in Insurance and pure protection between January and June 2026, which is 2.76 complaints per 1,000 policies in force. It closed 12,496 in the same period, 45.3% within three days and 49.1% after three days but within eight weeks. 67.3% of complaints were upheld¹⁶. The most common cause was other general admin and customer service¹⁶.

In Claims Management, esure opened 6 complaints in 2025, closed 0.0% within three days and 71.4% after three days but within eight weeks, and 57.1% were upheld. The main cause was personal injury customer service issues, including call handling¹⁶.

esure aims to sort complaints out within 3 days of receiving them, and says it will write with its view within eight weeks, which is the final decision²⁹.

How to complain and when to go to the ombudsman

Start with esure. You can visit esure.com/login and click "Need help?", type "Complaint" for live chat, email customerrelationsexec@esure.com, or write to Customer Relations Department, esure, The Equinox, 19 Cadogan Street, G2 6QQ²⁵.

If esure does not send a final response within eight weeks, or you are unhappy with the response, you can take the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is free³⁰. The ombudsman expects you to complain to the company first³¹. For travel policies bought or renewed after 29 July 2026, the same eight-week point applies before approaching the ombudsman²⁹.

The ombudsman service looks at complaints about financial products and services, including insurance, and can order a firm to put things right. For the wider framework, see consumer protection in UK financial services.

How money with esure is protected

esure is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, and compensation may be available if a firm providing insurance goes out of business or into liquidation¹⁵. The scheme is the last-resort body for claims against failed financial firms.

esure is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, with FCA reference number 203350 and status Authorised since 1 December 2001¹⁴. It appears on the Bank of England's list of UK insurers authorised to carry out contracts of insurance¹¹. The company is active on the Companies House register, company number 03885534, incorporated on 29 November 1999³⁰.

esure is part of the esure Group²⁰. The FCA register shows the firm's permissions include entering into regulated credit agreements as lender and accepting deposits¹⁴.