Assurant launches auto product suite, digital experience

Assurant announced the introduction of its new suite of vehicle products, Assurant Vehicle Care, that offers legacy protection products and digital tools to help customers manage their policies and protect their vehicles, including vehicle service contracts, guaranteed asset protection and prepaid vehicle maintenance. The new portfolio of products brings about an enhanced digital experience with the Vehicle Care by Assurant app and the Assurant Vehicle Care website.

"One thing that we've done with Assurant Vehicle Care to set ourselves apart is that we really took a step back with this product launching, this product suite, and really thought about everything from the consumer's perspective first," says Josh Sonnier, vice president of global strategy realization and product at Assurant.

When a consumer purchases a product at the point of sale, they will be directed either through their contract or by a salesperson to download the Vehicle Care by Assurant app. Sonnier explains that the app takes, "traditionally, a very paper heavy experience for the consumer and converts it into a digital experience." 

With the app and website's online digital capabilities, customers can keep digital records of contracts and other related documents like protection plans, search for safety recalls, actively track a claim's status, receive vehicle repair notifications, manage future vehicle maintenance and transfer a policy. 

To demonstrate the convenience of the digital experience the online tools provide, Sonnier explains, "Most of our products come with roadside assistance. If you run out of gas or have a breakdown on the side of the road, [and] if your paper contract with all of the details for roadside assistance is potentially in your vehicle and let's say you're locked out on top of everything… It doesn't help much to have it in the glove box. You can have everything right there on your phone to be able to access very, very easily."

Assurant also optimized the pricing of the Vehicle Care products with inflation in mind, even as rates continue to rise for claims and vehicle repair costs.

"We ensure we're number one in underwriting these sorts of contracts and coverages globally in the U.S. And just because we have the line of sight of such a large pool of data, we can see trends probably earlier than anyone else in our industry can," Sonnier states. "So we've seen all the inflationary pressures that have been coming for about 12 months now. And with this revised program, where we're able to price it accordingly, knowing what future inflation is going to look like…we can price that in today from a loss cost and from a loss experience perspective."