News Room

April 2, 2009

Assurant Specialty Property Opens 2nd Service Center in Duluth, Ga.

ATLANTA: Assurant Specialty Property, a leading provider of creditor-placed collateral protection insurance and related services, today announced the opening of a new service center in Duluth, Ga., to support its growing auto collateral protection insurance and vehicle title administration businesses.

While most of the new center’s current staff of 175 transferred from two other Atlanta metro sites, the 70,000 square foot facility has been configured to accommodate up to 685 employees. The company has invested approximately $6.5 million in the leased site, which includes parking for approximately 700 vehicles.

Assurant Specialty Property is part of Assurant (NYSE: AIZ). Assurant Specialty Property provides hazard and flood insurance tracking, escrow disbursement, loss draft tracking and other hazard insurance-related customer service to mortgage lenders and their customers, as well as complete collateral coverage and vehicle title tracking services for auto lenders.

“Our company is in the fortunate position of being able to continue to look forward in the current environment,” said Gene Mergelmeyer, president, Assurant Specialty Property. “This new center illustrates our commitment to our clients in the auto industry and to being well positioned to support their businesses – and to seek additional clients – when the economy begins to recover.”

Community leaders joining Assurant Specialty Property at today’s event included Gwinnett County Commissioner Shirley Fanning-Lasseter, Georgia State Rep. Pedro Marin and Nick Masino, vice president, Economic Development/Partnership Gwinnett, Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce.

At ceremonies marking the grand opening, Mergelmeyer and James Hankish, vice president, Auto Lending Solutions, announced a $25,000 grant to Gwinnett County Habitat for Humanity. The company will co-sponsor and provide volunteers to help build a townhouse for a low-income family in southern Gwinnett County.

The new service center at 2975 Breckinridge Blvd. is located approximately one mile from Assurant Specialty Property’s other Duluth service center at 2405 Commerce Ave. That facility, which currently has about 1,000 employees, will now focus exclusively on supporting the company’s insurance tracking and creditor-placed homeowners insurance business.

Hankish, who manages the center, said the company has hired 20 new employees to supplement the employees transferred from other sites. “Gwinnett offers a quality labor pool, and that made it an excellent location to expand our business,” he said.

Open positions for both Duluth service centers, as well as other Assurant locations, are posted on www.assurant.jobs and in the Careers section of www.assurantspecialtyproperty.com.

About Assurant Specialty Property

Assurant Specialty Property businesses are leading providers of creditor-placed homeowners insurance, direct-marketed products, collateral protection programs and related outsourcing services. They develop, underwrite, market and administer specialty property and personal lines of insurance through collaborative relationships with leading home mortgage companies, financial institutions, manufactured home builders and dealers, auto finance companies, property management companies and managing general agents. Assurant Specialty Property serves clients and their customers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. www.assurantspecialtyproperty.com

Assurant Specialty Property is part of Assurant, a premier provider of specialized insurance products and related services in North America and selected international markets. Assurant, a Fortune 500 company and part of the S&P 500, is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AIZ. Assurant has in excess of $24 billion in assets and $8 billion in annual revenue. www.assurant.com

Media Contact:

James A. Sykes
Director, External Communications
Tel. 770.763.1015
E-mail: james.sykes@assurant.com