News Room

December 5, 2005

Assurant Specialty Property to Create 200 New Jobs at Springfield, Ohio Hazard Insurance Service Center

ATLANTA/SPRINGFIELD: Assurant Specialty Property, a leading provider of lender-placed hazard insurance and outsourcing services to the U.S. mortgage industry, today announced plans to create 200 new jobs at its Ohio Service Center in Springfield over the next year.

To accommodate the new employees, the company will invest more than $1 million in furniture and equipment to reconfigure certain workspaces at its 150,000 square-foot, three-building office complex off Leffel Lane and expand a second work shift.

Assurant Specialty Property, part of Assurant (NYSE:AIZ), moved the Ohio center to its current location at 1 Assurant Way in 2002. Employment there has grown steadily over the past three years, increasing from about 600 in July 2002 to more than 1,270.

John B. Owen, president and chief executive officer of Assurant Specialty Property, said the additional jobs would enable the center to accommodate the continued growth of existing client business and to take on additional accounts. "In Springfield, we are building on our success. This center is the largest hazard insurance servicing facility of its kind in the nation."

Owen said the City of Springfield, Clark County and the Ohio Department of Development have been very supportive of company's expansion plans. Pending state and local approval, project support includes a package of approximately $1 million in job creation tax credits, training funds, a business development grant and employment incentive grants, he said.

Warren Copeland, mayor of Springfield, said the City of Springfield is excited about the continued growth of Assurant Specialty Property. "The City values the relationship we've been able to build with this company. In a very short time, they have become one of the leading employers of our community and the region."

Tom Franzen, economic development administrator for the City of Springfield, echoed the mayor's comments, saying: "The City aggressively competes for these investments and strives to provide great customer service through the efforts of our economic development staff. We want to ensure that companies receive the support they need to remain viable and grow."

Miachel [sic] Lawson, a vice president of Assurant Specialty Property, has headed the Ohio center since 1995. The company also operates two hazard insurance service centers in Duluth, Ga., and Florence, S.C.

Assurant Specialty Property's Lending Solutions business provides a variety of outsourcing services to the mortgage lenders and servicers, including hazard and flood insurance tracking and escrow account disbursement services. The company uses a cognitive technology application called SmartFlow to process millions of pieces of mail annually for its clients.

For additional information about current job openings at the Springfield center, go to www.assurantspecialtyproperty.com/careers. Applicants also can submit applications at the center's human resources office. (Note: Although Assurant Specialty Property has operated as a separate Assurant business since June 2005, it continues to share a Web site with sister business Assurant Solutions.)

About Assurant Specialty Property

Assurant Specialty Property companies are leading providers of lender-placed hazard insurance, 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, 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.

Assurant Specialty Property is aligned with leaders in every market it serves. It has strong, long-term relationships with six of the nation's ten largest mortgage lenders and servicers (based on servicing volume) and four of the seven largest manufactured housing builders (based on number of homes built).

Assurant Specialty Property is part of Assurant, a premier provider of specialized 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 over $20 billion in assets and $7 billion in annual revenue. www.assurant.com

Media Contact:

James A. Sykes
Assurant Specialty Property
260 Interstate N. Circle, SE
Atlanta, Ga. 30339-2110
Telephone: 770.763.1015
FAX: 770.859.4325
E-mail: james.sykes@assurant.com