Assurant

Assurant can trace its roots back to the founding of the La Crosse Mutual Aid Association, which was established to sell disability insurance in Wisconsin in the early 1890s. La Crosse Mutual Aid Association would later become the Time Insurance Company.Usher, Ellis Baker, Wisconsin: Its Story and Biography 1848-1913, Vol. 8, p. 2297

In 1978, N.V. AMEV of the Netherlands acquired the Time Insurance Company via its U.S. holding company AMEV Holdings, Inc. During the next 12 years, AMEV Holdings, Inc. would expand through acquisition, buying American Security Insurance (credit-related insurance); United Family (funeral insurance); Western Insurance Company (mutual funds); and Superior Insurance (auto insurance).[https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/28/business/business-people-new-top-posts-filled-by-amev-holdings.html New Top Posts Filled By AMEV Holdings] Cuff, Daniel (November 28, 1990). “New Top Posts Filled By AMEV Holdings.” The New York Times.

In 1990, N.V. AMEV of the Netherlands acquired VSB Groep NV bank to become the Netherlands first financial conglomerate combining an insurer and a bank, creating Fortis.[https://www.chicagotribune.com/1990/01/23/dutch-insurer-amev-is-buying-vsb-groep/ Dutch insurer Amev is buying VSB Groep] (January 23, 1990). “Dutch insurer Amev is buying VSB Groep NV bank for...” Chicago Tribune online

In 1991, AMEV acquired the group life, accident and health insurance of Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company.{{Cite news| issn = 0458-3035| last = ZONANA| first = VICTOR F.| title = Ailing Mutual Benefit Sells Off Units to AMEV| work =Los Angeles Times| access-date = 2015-07-10| date = 1991-08-01| url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-08-01-fi-356-story.html}} AMEV Holdings, Inc. was rebranded Fortis, Inc. in 1991.{{cite news|last1=Hagerty|first1=Bob|title=Groupe AG, Amev Report 31% Rise In Profit, Pick Fortis as Firm's Name|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=4 June 1991}} Superior Insurance was sold in 1996.{{cite news|title=Financial brief: Fortis|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=2 May 1996}} Fortis acquired John Alden in 1998 and American Bankers Insurance in 1999.{{Cite web| title = Fortis To Acquire John Alden| access-date = 2015-06-19| url = http://www.lifehealthpro.com/1998/03/16/fortis-to-acquire-john-alden| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150619090156/http://www.lifehealthpro.com/1998/03/16/fortis-to-acquire-john-alden| archive-date = 2015-06-19| url-status = dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.assurant.com/NewsRoom/AllNews/NewsReleases/1999/August/Fortis-completes-acquisition-of-American-Bankers-Insurance-Group-ABI|title=All News|website=www.assurant.com|language=en|access-date=2017-07-12|archive-date=2017-08-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809042016/https://www.assurant.com/NewsRoom/AllNews/NewsReleases/1999/August/Fortis-completes-acquisition-of-American-Bankers-Insurance-Group-ABI|url-status=live}}

Fortis Inc. sold its life insurance to The Hartford in 2001.{{Cite web| title = Newsroom detail| access-date = 2019-04-14| url = https://www.assurant.com/newsroom-detail/NewsReleases/2001/April/Fortis-Inc-Completes-Sale-of-Fortis-Financial-Group-to-The-Hartford| archive-date = 2021-06-07| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210607104859/https://www.assurant.com/newsroom-detail/NewsReleases/2001/April/Fortis-Inc-Completes-Sale-of-Fortis-Financial-Group-to-The-Hartford| url-status = live}} Fortis' American business was subsequently renamed as Assurant and spun off from the parent company in 2004.[http://www.insuranceinsider.com/Fortis-to-spin-off-US-insurance-arm Fortis to spin-off{{sic|nolink=y}} US insurance arm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407061759/http://www.insuranceinsider.com/Fortis-to-spin-off-US-insurance-arm |date=2014-04-07 }} (September 1, 2003) “Fortis to spin-off{{sic|nolink=y}} US insurance arm.” The Insurance Insider.{{cite web|title=SEC Complaint: Assurant, Inc.|url=https://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2010/comp21388.pdf|access-date=5 February 2016|archive-date=4 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604080139/http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2010/comp21388.pdf|url-status=live}}

On June 10, 2015, Assurant announced an exit from the health insurance marketplace to focus on housing and lifestyle specialty protection products and services, and would be winding down its Assurant Health business.[http://www.assuranthealth.com/about-assurant-health/news-articles/assurant-to-exit-health-insurance-market-to-support-specialty-protection-products-and-services] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905053243/http://www.assuranthealth.com/about-assurant-health/news-articles/assurant-to-exit-health-insurance-market-to-support-specialty-protection-products-and-services|date=2015-09-05}} (June 10, 2015) “Assurant to Exit Health Insurance Market to Support Strategic Focus on Housing and Lifestyle Specialty Protection Products and Services” Press Release. Retrieved October 25, 2015 In October 2015, Assurant announced it had completed the sale of Assurant Health's existing supplemental and self-funded business lines to National General Holdings Corporation.[http://www.assuranthealth.com/about-assurant-health/news-articles/ng-announcement] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304213447/http://www.assuranthealth.com/about-assurant-health/news-articles/ng-announcement|date=2016-03-04}} (October 1, 2015) “Assurant Completes Sale of Supplemental and Small Group Self-Funded Health Insurance Business Lines to National General Holdings Corp.” Press Release. Retrieved October 25, 2015{{cite web|last1=Blumenthal|first1=Robin Goldwyn|title=Why a Big Insurer's Stock Could Double|url=http://www.barrons.com/articles/why-a-big-insurers-stock-could-double-1498279627|website=Barron's|access-date=19 July 2017|archive-date=30 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630045015/http://www.barrons.com/articles/why-a-big-insurers-stock-could-double-1498279627|url-status=live}} Assurant began to wind down its major medical operations and did not participate in the next Affordable Care Act open enrollment period beginning in November 2015. Assurant sold its HSA assets and other medical-account assets to SelectAccount in March 2016. In 2015 Assurant also announced it was exiting the employee benefits marketplace.{{cite news|last1=Scism|first1=Leslie|title=Sun Life to Buy Assurant's Employee-Benefits Business in $975 Million Deal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/sun-life-to-buy-assurants-employee-benefits-business-in-975-million-deal-1441833020?mg=prod/accounts-wsj|access-date=28 July 2017|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=9 September 2015|archive-date=13 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231113004259/https://www.wsj.com/articles/sun-life-to-buy-assurants-employee-benefits-business-in-975-million-deal-1441833020?mg=prod/accounts-wsj|url-status=live}} Sun Life Financial agreed to acquire Assurant Employee Benefits for $940 million in September 2015,{{cite news|last1=Dmitrieva|first1=Katia|title=Sun Life to Buy Assurant Unit With $975 Million Investment|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-09/sun-life-to-buy-assurant-unit-with-975-million-investment|access-date=5 February 2016|publisher=Bloomberg News}} and closed the sale in March 2016.{{cite news|last1=Fernandes|first1=Deirdre|title=Sun Life complete purchase of employee benefit business|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/03/01/sun-life-complete-purchase-employee-benefit-business/1KMMvecFie4BMt88K8rFNP/story.html|access-date=4 March 2016|work=Boston Globe|date=1 Mar 2016}}

Assurant operates two main segments:

• Global Housing, which offers lender-placed insurance, multi-family housing, and mortgage services.
• Global Lifestyle, which offers mobile device protection services and extended service contracts for consumer electronics and appliances, vehicle protection services, and credit and other insurance.

Assurant Health (now divested from Assurant){{cite web|last1=Steyer|first1=Robert|title=Big players dropping HSA business despite growth potential - Business Insurance|url=http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20160613/NEWS03/160619963|website=Business Insurance|access-date=20 July 2016}}{{cite web|last1=Marshall|first1=Erin|title=Assurant completes sale of business lines to National General Holdings Corp.|url=http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/payer-issues/assurant-completes-sale-of-business-lines-to-national-general-holdings-corp.html|website=Becker's Hospital Review|access-date=4 February 2016|date=2 Oct 2015}} was repeatedly found to cancel health policies for some customers that had serious medical conditions, and 12 states criticized the firm for denying claims, with most of the states levying fines against Assurant.[https://archive.today/20120708224423/http://google.com/search?q=cache:jRwHVdE_eLMJ:www.ct.gov/oha State of Connecticut Office of the Healthcare Advocate]{{Cite web|last=Yates|first=Jon|title=Insurer another headache Insurer causes more headaches|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2009-09-29-0909290053-story.html|access-date=2020-07-01|website=Chicago Tribune|date=29 September 2009|language=en-US|archive-date=2023-11-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231113002754/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2009-09-29-0909290053-story.html|url-status=live}}[http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2007/03/05/daily16.html?from_rss=1 Oregon regulators slap fine on Assurant Health] Business Jrnl of Milwaukee, Oregon Regulators slap fine on Assurant Health, March 6, 2007 A number of individual cases have been reported.

In September 2009, the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld a lower court's verdict that the firm (then known as "Fortis") wrongly revoked the health insurance policy of a holder who had contracted HIV subsequent to getting an insurance policy, and ordered the firm to pay $10 million to the plaintiff. The court found that:

:Pursuant to company policy in cases involving long-term disease, Fortis launched an investigation to determine whether [the plaintiff] had failed to disclose a pre-existing condition on his policy application...A Fortis investigator reviewed the records and discovered [an] erroneously-dated intake note in [the doctor’s] files. That information was then forwarded to [a] Fortis Senior Underwriter...for review. [The underwriter]...recommended that [the plaintiff’s] policy be rescinded on the grounds that he had misrepresented his HIV positive status.

A Reuters report on the ruling stated that Fortis had a company policy to target every recently diagnosed HIV-positive policyholder for an automatic fraud investigation as a pretext to rescind their policy, according to undisclosed records. As in that case, their insurance policies often were canceled on incorrect information, flimsy evidence, or for no reason at all.{{Cite news |website=Reuters |title=Insurer target HIV patients to drop coverage |date=March 17, 2010 |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62G2DO20100317 |access-date=June 30, 2017 |archive-date=October 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030235752/https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62G2DO20100317 |url-status=live }} In March 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the firm's appeal of the ruling.{{Cite web|date=2010-03-24|title=Supreme Court refuses Assurant's appeal of $10 million award in HIV case [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]|url=https://insurancenewsnet.com/oarticle/Supreme-Court-refuses-Assurants-appeal-of-10-million-award-in-HIV-case-%5bMilwau-a-174515|access-date=2020-07-01|website=InsuranceNewsNet|language=en-US|archive-date=2020-07-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701051105/https://insurancenewsnet.com/oarticle/Supreme-Court-refuses-Assurants-appeal-of-10-million-award-in-HIV-case-[Milwau-a-174515|url-status=live}}

In February 2010, a Boulder, Colorado jury found that Assurant Health had breached its contract with a woman who was severely injured in a hit-and-run accident, and awarded her $183,551 for medical bills and approximately $37.1 million in punitive damages. This was described as "one of the largest bad-faith judgments in Colorado history".{{Cite news|url=http://www.westword.com/content/printVersion/1400288|title=Health-Care Hell: The insurance company didn't give a damn. The jury decided it ought to give $37 million.|last=Prendergast|first=Alan|date=2010-02-11|work=Westword|access-date=2017-07-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102183230if_/http://www.westword.com/content/printVersion/1400288/|archive-date=2012-11-02|url-status=dead}}

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• {{Official website|https://www.assurant.com}}

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Category:Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange

Category:Holding companies established in 1977

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