Businessmodel of Assurant

Customer Segments

Assurant offers its customers a range of insurance products and services. These products are typically targeted at the general consumer population, with its customers divided largely into two categories, divided by product line:

• Housing Protection Customers, comprising renters and owners of residential properties, including owners of mobile and manufactured homes; and
• Lifestyle Protection Customers, comprising general consumers and owners of expensive items, such as electronics, mobile phones, jewellery, and vehicles. Assurant serves a large customer base in its native US, which remains its core market for sales. It also serves an international customer base across Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Americas, including in the UK, Canada, Argentina, Peru, and South Korea.

Value Propositions

Assurant provides value to its customers in the following ways:

• Its industry standing and reputation, with the Company established as a reliable provider of effective insurance products, with its brand names associated with the provision of a high-quality of service;
• Its financial strength, with the Company maintaining a healthy level of financial strength, with its various operating subsidiaries attaining strong financial strength ratings and credit outlook scores from leading ratings agencies;
• Its portfolio of products, with the Company offering its customers a broad range of insurance products, including home owner and renter insurance, vehicle insurance, jewellery insurance, and electronics protection;
• Its international reach, with the Company serving customers across various markets in north and South America, Asia Pacific, and Europe, in addition to its extensive domestic customer base in the US; and
• Its industry expertise and experience, with the Company employing specialist personnel across its operating segments, as well as a team of experienced industry executives. ### Channels

Assurant operates a corporate website at www.assurant.com, through which it provides information on its various products and services, operating locations, and corporate activities. It also operates a consumer-facing website at www.assurantsolutions.com, which provides greater detail on its products and services. The Company does not operate an online sales channel, however, its website does allow customers to easily contact sales personnel.

Assurant sells many of its product and services through a group sales force operating out of the Company’s 32 offices located near major metropolitan areas in the US. The Company’s sales representatives distribute the Company’s products and services through independent brokers and employee-benefits advisors, while daily account management assistance is offered through local sales offices, further supported by a centralised home office customer service department.

Assurant offers manufactured housing insurance programs through manufactured housing lenders and retailers, along with independent specialty agents, while its multi-family housing products are distributed primarily through property management companies and affinity marketing partners. The Company also provides property risk management services directly to mortgage lenders and servicers, under non-exclusive arrangements.

In addition to is domestic operations, Assurant does business across a number of international markets, providing a range of services to customers through agreements with financial institutions, retailers and mobile service providers.

Customer Relationships

Assurant does not offer products and services to its customers on a self-service basis. Instead, the Company provides tailored solutions to its customers both directly and indirectly through its own in-house sales force and its network of intermediaries. The Company seeks to provide personalised services that suit the individual circumstances of each customer.

Assurant offers ongoing support to its customers, with a dedicated support organisation which is able to provide tailored responses to customer queries, enquiries, and claims over the phone. The Company seeks to make the claims process as simple as possible, encouraging future repeat business.

Assurant offers a range of online support resources to its customers, including news articles and coverage information, which can be accessed independently. The Company also operates social media accounts with Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, through which it is able to interact directly with customers and provide company updates.

Key Activities

Assurant operates as a provider of specialty protection products and related services. The Company’s operations are aligned into four reportable business segments: Assurant Solutions, which provides mobile device protection products and services, debt protection administration, credit insurance, and extended service products for consumer electronics, appliances and vehicles; Assurant Specialty Property, which provides lender-placed homeowners insurance, property preservation and valuation services, flood insurance, renters insurance, and manufactured housing homeowners insurance; Assurant Health, the Company’s discontinued health products arm; and Assurant Employee Benefits, which provides range of group disability, dental, life, vision and supplemental products. Assurant operates principally in the US, but also serves customers across Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Europe.

Key Partners

Assurant works in close collaboration with a number of partner organisations and companies across its multiple operating segments. These partners can be organised broadly into the following categories:

• Supplier and Vendor Partners, including suppliers of services, technologies, and equipment that are utilised across the enterprise, as well as companies to which certain no-technical functions can be outsourced;
• Channel and Distribution Partners, comprising various financial institutions, mortgage lenders, property management companies, and other intermediaries through which the Company provides products and services;
• Consumer Electronics Partners, comprising various consumer electronics manufacturers and appliance retailers that market the Company’s insurance products in conjunction with product warranty coverage; and
• Joint Venture Partners, comprising various companies operating in the insurance industry with which the Company provides joint services and operations through mutually owned entities. Assurant has launched a number of partnerships in recent years. This includes a partnership with startup Carma to provide insurance coverage for its carpooling and car-sharing programs, a tie-up with eBay Motors to provide insurance coverage to its customers, and a partnership with online security company to lower the risk of attacks on small and medium business websites.

Key Resources

Assurant’s key resources are its intellectual properties, its financial resources, its IT and communications infrastructure, its network of intermediaries, its physical properties, its partnerships, and its personnel.

Assurant owns several patents and trademarks that are used in the provision of its products and services. Searches of records published by the US Patent and Trademark Office identified two patent applications filed in Assurant’s name, entitled ‘Method, apparatus, and computer readable medium for providing wireless device protection service’ and ‘System, method, apparatus, and computer program product for providing mobile device support services’.

Cost Structure

Assurant incurs costs in relation to the settlement of claims, the development of its intellectual properties, the maintenance of its IT and communications infrastructure, the management of its network of intermediaries, the operation of its physical properties, the management of its partnerships, the implementation of marketing campaigns, and the retention of its personnel.

In 2015 Assurant recorded policyholder benefits in the amount of $4.74 billion, and underwriting, general and administrative expenses in the amount of $3.92 billion.

Revenue Streams

Assurant generates revenue through the provision of various insurance products and related services. The Company principally derives its revenue in the form of regular premiums paid by customers, as well as in the form of service fees charged in relation to certain ancillary services.

In 2015 Assurant generated total revenue in the amount of $10.33 billion, down marginally on the $10.38 billion recorded by the Company in 2014. The Company’s net earned premiums for the year were recorded as $8.35 billion, with fees and other income of $1.30 billion accounting for the bulk of the Company’s remaining revenue.