Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation (Details)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015 state
Maximum
Collaborative Arrangements and Non-collaborative Arrangement Transactions [Line Items]
Residential mortgage down payment percentage for which mortgage insurance is generally required	20.00%
Essent Guaranty
Collaborative Arrangements and Non-collaborative Arrangement Transactions [Line Items]
Number of states in which the entity is licensed to write mortgage insurance	50
Reinsurance for mortgage insurance coverage in excess of 25% \| Essent Guaranty \| Essent PA
Collaborative Arrangements and Non-collaborative Arrangement Transactions [Line Items]
Reinsurance for mortgage insurance coverage threshold (as a percent)	25.00%
Quota share reinsurance \| Essent Guaranty \| Essent Re
Collaborative Arrangements and Non-collaborative Arrangement Transactions [Line Items]
Reinsurance percentage	25.00%

- Definition

Represents the percentage of the total sale price that a home buyer contributes in cash towards the purchase of a home for which mortgage insurance is generally required.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	esnt_LoansAndLeasesReceivableConsumerMortgageInsuredDownPaymentPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	esnt_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Threshold percentage of risk reinsured on insurance products per entity policy.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	esnt_ReinsuranceRetentionPolicyReinsuredRiskPercentageThreshold
Namespace Prefix:	esnt_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_CollaborativeArrangementsAndNoncollaborativeArrangementTransactionsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The number of states the entity operates in as of the balance sheet date.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_NumberOfStatesInWhichEntityOperates
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Percentage of risk reinsured on insurance products per entity policy.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ReinsuranceRetentionPolicyReinsuredRiskPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RangeAxis=us-gaap_MaximumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=esnt_EssentGuarantyIncMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionAxis=esnt_ExcessMortgageInsuranceCoverageMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=esnt_EssentGuarantyIncMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=esnt_EssentGuarantyOfPAIncMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionAxis=esnt_QuotaShareReinsuranceTransactionMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=esnt_EssentReinsuranceLtdMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: