NU Online News Service, July 18, 2:47 p.m. EDT

Insurance buyers can now use O.co, also known as Overstock.com, to get automobile and home insurance quotes thanks to a partnership with independent insurance agency Answer Financial.

“More and more consumers are using the Web to save money on auto and home insurance, and the Answer Financial platform allows them to effectively shop the market and compare prices to find some of the best deals,” says Rob Slingerland, chief executive officer of Answer Financial, in a statement. “Bringing this capability to O.co’s savvy online customers is a perfect fit for our business.”

Overstock.com announced its move to the O.co uniform resource locator (url) last month. O.co CEO Patrick Byrne says the addition of insurance to the website “is the next step in adding more visibility to our new url.”

Interestingly, Answer Financial and online auto insurer Esurance, both owned by White Mountains Insurance Group, are to be purchased by Allstate Corp. for about $1 billion.

The transaction is expected to close in the fall.

Late last month Esurance and Security First Insurance Co. announced a partnership to offer homeowners’ insurance in Florida.

Today Allstate Corp. says Joseph Lacher, president of Allstate Protection, is leaving the company immediately. Lacher led all of Allstate’s property and casualty offerings as president of Allstate Protection.

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