Represents the period of payment of dividends that can be declared or paid without approval of regulatory agency.

No definition available.

Name:	esnt_StatutoryAccountingPracticesStatutoryAmountAvailableForDividendPaymentsWithoutRegulatoryApprovalDividendPaymentPeriod
Namespace Prefix:	esnt_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the amount of dividends that can be declared or paid without approval of regulatory agency, as a percentage of the previous fiscal year end statutory policyholders' surplus.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Definition

This element represents disclosure of the total aggregate cash dividends paid to the entity by consolidated subsidiaries, by unconsolidated subsidiaries, and by 50% or less owned persons accounted for using the equity method.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 235
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (SX 210.12-04(b))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e24072-122690

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 235
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-06)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6882215&loc=d3e537971-122884

+ Details

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

- Definition

This element represents disclosure of the aggregate cash dividends paid to the entity by consolidated subsidiaries.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 235
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (SX 210.12-04.(b))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e24072-122690

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 235
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-06)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6882215&loc=d3e537971-122884

+ Details

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

- Definition

Amount of statutory capital and surplus computed using prescribed or permitted statutory accounting practice.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 505
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6486098&loc=d3e24708-158529

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DividendPaymentsRestrictionsScheduleStatutoryCapitalAndSurplus1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

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

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_SubsequentEventTypeAxis=us-gaap_SubsequentEventMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

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

Schedule II-Condensed Financial Information of Registrant (Details 4) - USD ($)	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Feb. 15, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Condensed Financial Information of Registrant
Dividends paid to parent		$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
Essent PA
Condensed Financial Information of Registrant
Dividend payment ability, period of payment of dividends (in months)		12 months
Dividend payment ability, as a percentage of preceding year-end statutory policyholders' surplus		10.00%
Unassigned surplus		$ 8,400,000
Dividends paid to parent company		3,750,000	0	200,000
Essent PA \| Subsequent event
Condensed Financial Information of Registrant
Dividends paid to parent company	$ 5,000,000
Essent Guaranty
Condensed Financial Information of Registrant
Unassigned surplus		13,600,000
Dividends paid to parent company		$ 0	$ 0	$ 0