News Room

20th September 2007

Irish League of Credit Unions selects Assurant Solutions to provide payment protection schemes to members

Assurant Solutions, a specialist in creating, underwriting and administering niche insurance protection products, today announced its first major business partnership, with the Irish League of Credit Unions, since its recent launch into the Irish market.

The company will underwrite and administer a Repayment Protection Insurance Scheme to the individual credit unions.

The Repayment Protection Insurance policy, which is optional for people taking out a new loan or for those who already hold a Credit Union loan, is designed by Assurant Solutions to cover loan repayments for a specified period of time if the member is unable to work due to an accident, sickness or involuntary redundancy. In addition, the policy pays a lump sum to help pay off the loan if the member suffers a critical illness covered on the policy.

Liam O’Dwyer, CEO, Irish League of Credit Unions said, “We are committed to providing the best value products available in the marketplace to our members. We have, therefore, selected Assurant Solutions with its strong heritage in the creditor market and a track record of underwriting and supporting flexible insurance products, as the best provider for our requirements. We are excited about the increased benefits that we are now able to offer our members through this partnership. This coupled with the new PRSA product will enhance the product range available to credit union members.”

Speaking about the new venture, Ian Moffatt, Managing Director, Assurant Solutions, UK and Ireland, said, "Having only recently entered the Irish insurance market, we are naturally delighted that the ILCU have chosen Assurant Solutions to be the sole underwriter of this product. We look forward to working closely with them in developing this product further to reflect their requirements.”

Robert McCarthy, Business Development Manager for Assurant Solutions in Ireland, added, "We are looking forward to working with the ILCU to ensure their members get even better value from their insurance cover."

Assurant Solutions' operation in Ireland is supported by a service centre in Cork operated by an affiliate, Assurant Services Ireland Ltd. Established in 1999 as a claims processing centre for U.S. operations, the centre currently employs approximately 50 people.

Assurant Solutions specialises in creating insurance products including payment protection insurance, warranty and service contracts, and credit card price and purchase protection. The business works with financial institutions, intermediaries, brokers and high street and home shopping retailers to design, develop, underwrite, administer and market these niche insurance lines.

For further information, please contact:

Brendan Bracken, Bracken PR
Tel: 01 677 3277

NOTES TO EDITORS

Assurant Solutions

Assurant Solutions is part of Assurant, a premier provider of specialised insurance products and related services in North America and selected other markets. Assurant is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AIZ and has approximately $US25 billion in assets and $US7 billion in annual revenue.

Assurant Solutions businesses develop, underwrite and market niche insurance, extended service contracts and other risk management solutions in collaborative relationships with leading financial institutions, retailers, and automobile dealers, utilities and other entities.

Principal lines of business include debt protection administration, credit insurance, warranties and extended service contracts on appliances, consumer electronics, automobiles, recreational vehicles and boats. They serve clients and their customers throughout North America, the Caribbean and selected countries in South America and Europe, including the United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Ireland and Spain.

Visit www.assurantsolutions.ie

Assurant Services Ireland Limited

Assurant Services Ireland Limited is an Assurant Solutions company, which has been based in Cork since 1999. The company deliver operations support services to other Assurant Solutions companies, including life, disability and involuntary unemployment claims assistance for creditor insurance and debt protection programmes.

Irish League of Credit Unions

The credit union movement is a financial co-operative owned and run by its members on a not-for-profit basis for the benefit of the members and their communities.

The Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) is a member of the World Council of Credit Unions which has over 172 million members in 97 countries.

The Irish League of Credit Unions was set up in 1960 to represent & service affiliated credit unions on the island of Ireland. The ILCU now represents the interests of 525 credit unions in Ireland.