InsurTech Magazine May 2023 | Page 3

Assurant is providing a range of protection products and services to help people thrive in a connected world , partnering with Vodafone to bring protection to life .

Today ’ s consumer has over 20 different wifi-enabled gadgets in their home , underlining the size of the gadget protection opportunity . Assurant – a leading global business services company that supports , protects and connects major consumer purchases , serving more than 300mn customers – is focusing on insurance products and services that empower consumers to protect those gadgets .

“ We focus on everything that sits around the device ,” Assurant UK Managing Director Chris Woolnough explains . One of Assurant ’ s brands is Pocket Geek , which includes a chain of Pocket Geek Tech Repair stores where customers can walk in or book an appointment to have their mobile phone or other gadget repaired . Assurant also offers Pocket Geek Home , which unites all of the consumer ’ s most important gadgets in one smartphone app .

Assurant is a B2B2C company but its one exception is the direct-to-consumer brand Protect Your Bubble . It sells a monthly package that lets consumers combine gadgets into one insurance product , which they can cancel at any time . Protect Your Bubble provides valuable real-time insights for the company based around consumer behaviour , which it can use to hone its B2B propositions .

Culture vitally important to the way Assurant does business

Woolnough says that culture is particularly important to Assurant . “ Our culture is pretty special and we call it the Assurant Way ,” he says . “ Within that , we have a set of values . Those values are common sense , common decency , uncommon thinking and uncommon results . Everything we do hooks back into those .”

This platform of trust has allowed it to enjoy a long working relationship with Vodafone . Assurant provides Pocket Geek Mobile support to Vodafone as a benefit for business customers and offers Vodafone Rapid , a replacement service that can deliver a new device in under four hours . The two companies are preparing to go into multi-gadget support , starting in one market , and then rolling out with technical support .