Represents the percentage of outstanding shares held by investor.

No definition available.

Name:	esnt_PercentageOfOutstandingSharesHeldByInvestor
Namespace Prefix:	esnt_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of transactions with related party during the financial reporting period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 850
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6457730&loc=d3e39603-107864

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 850
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6457730&loc=d3e39549-107864

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 850
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6457730&loc=d3e39622-107864

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionAmountsOfTransaction
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Expenses recognized resulting from transactions (excluding transactions that are eliminated in consolidated or combined financial statements) with related party.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 850
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6457730&loc=d3e39549-107864

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionExpensesFromTransactionsWithRelatedParty
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
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_RelatedPartyTransactionLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

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

- Details

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

- Details

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

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfEquityMethodInvestmentEquityMethodInvesteeNameAxis=esnt_EssentGroupLimitedMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

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

- Details

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

- Details

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

Related Party Transactions (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Nov. 05, 2013	Nov. 04, 2013
Underwriting agreements \| Goldman Sachs
Related Party Transactions
Amounts paid		$ 3.5	$ 6.9
Goldman Sachs \| Essent Group
Related Party Transactions
Percentage of outstanding shares held by investor (less than 10%)					11.35%
Goldman Sachs \| Essent Group \| Maximum
Related Party Transactions
Percentage of outstanding shares held by investor (less than 10%)				10.00%
Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L. P. \| Investment advisory agreement
Related Party Transactions
Expense incurred	$ 0.7	$ 0.5	$ 0.4