Press Release

13 December 2005

Assurant Solutions welcomes the OFT market study

Assurant Solutions, a specialist in creating insurance products that protect UK consumers’ most valuable assets – their income, health, home and possessions – today welcomed the news that the OFT is to carry out a market study to look in depth at the payment protection insurance (PPI) sector.

Ian Moffatt, Sales & Marketing Director at Assurant Solutions, comments: “For the past 12 months we have been encouraging everyone involved in the sector to create and sell products that provide consumers with protection solutions that are flexible, affordable and meet their individual needs. We believe that the work being undertaken by this and other organisations will serve to do just that, and drive forward the innovation needed to enhance the product offering to the consumer.”

Assurant Solutions embarked on an extensive project at the end of 2004 to develop an “unbundled” range of mortgage payment protection and income replacement products. As a result of that work, it can now offer over a quarter of a million individually priced options, allowing its distributors to provide tailored protection solutions to their customers. The business took a further step forward in November this year, introducing age-banded MPPI providing 216 cover options.

To address the issue surrounding the complexity of creating an individual solution to suit each customer’s personal circumstances, Assurant Solutions is in the final stages of building an electronic sales tool to help its distributors deliver such solutions. A pilot programme is due to be launched early in the New Year.

Moffatt goes on to say: “The PPI sector faces two choices: create highly flexible, affordable solutions supported by the right tools to ensure a compliant sales process, or simplify the product to the most basic level. Whatever choice an insurer, lender or intermediary makes, the end result must be that the customer walks away happy in the knowledge that they know what they’ve bought, what it will do, and satisfied with the price that they have paid.”

Note to Editors:

About Assurant Solutions

Headquartered in Slough, Assurant Solutions is part of Assurant, a provider of specialty property and consumer protection products. Focused on niche risk management, Assurant Solutions provides customised solutions designed to help its clients manage their risk-based activities and maximise their revenue potential. It develops, underwrites and markets niche insurance lines including creditor, term life, income protection, personal accident, extended service contracts and extended warranty programmes through strategic partnerships with financial institutions - including mortgage lenders, mortgage packagers, credit card issuers and finance companies - and retailers.

Assurant is 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 US$20 billion in assets and US$7 billion in annual revenue. Assurant comprises four businesses - Assurant Employee Benefits, Assurant Health, Assurant Solutions and Assurant Specialty Property. Visit www.assurantsolutions.co.uk.