(Detail, flag of the Republic of Venice, inspiration for Generali’s logo. Credit: F l a n k e r.)

Generali US Branch, the New York-based U.S. arm of Generali Group (Trieste, Italy), a global insurance and financial services group with more than €500 billion in assets, has announced the launch of a new Specialty Insurance Division which will focus on providing comprehensive warranty services and solutions.

The Specialty Insurance Division will provide both insurance and obligor services for warranty programs worldwide by applying the experience Generali Group’s 71,000 employees have gained from serving more than 61 million customers across the globe, according to a company statement. Combining obligor services with the financial backing of Generali Group, which had a total premium income of more than €66 billion in 2018, will allow the new warranty services business to provide dedicated support with sound financial backing to both US and multinational consumer-facing businesses, the statement says. The company says that its competitive position in Western Europe as well as its significant and growing presence of over 400 subsidiaries in the US, Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, and South America will allow this new division to provide an unparalleled level of international support.

“Our US Specialty Insurance Division is uniquely positioned to leverage Generali Group’s 200 years of proven service and its vast network of over 400 companies in over 50 countries, to provide specialized offerings both in the US and internationally,” comments José Luis Menéndez, Executive VP and Chief Insurance Officer, Generali US Branch. “The backing of Generali Group, with more than €500 billion in assets, provides an incredibly deep and established platform for our new of warranty services and solutions.”

The Specialty Insurance Division will partner with a wide array of consumer retailers and dealers, third party administrators, and other consumer-facing entities to provide robust and tailored warranty services for consumer products, according to the company statement. Generali says its multinational and domestic capabilities will allow the new warranty service line to support a variety of warranty program structures including Insurer as Obligor Programs, Administrator Obligor Programs, Direct Insurer Programs, and Dealer Obligor Programs. Leveraging the stability and reach of one of the largest global insurance providers, the Specialty Insurance Division plans to provide warranty services for a wide array of products including motor vehicles, watercraft, travel trailers, new homes, home systems, major appliances, televisions, consumer electronics, as well as computers and other peripherals.

Expanding Technological Offerings.

“We are excited to leverage the full technical capabilities at the disposal of Generali to help service this new line of insurance,” Menéndez adds. “The partnerships we are developing with technology providers and Generali’s global reach will allow us to provide specialty insurance services to firms, both domestically and abroad. Moving forward we have additional plans to expand our technological offerings to remain at the forefront of our rapidly changing business environment.”

Generali’s warranty services line will also allow the company to execute on a larger strategy of promoting B2B2C relationships and providing clients both in the U.S. and abroad with a single-stop solution for both regular and extended warranties, according to Menéndez. “Our warranty services line is only the beginning—we will continue to expand our Specialty Insurance Division, leveraging the depth and breadth of our global organization to provide unique solutions to an evolving insurance and services marketplace,” Menéndez says.

What’s Driving Insurance Innovation and Where is it Headed?—ITC’s Caribou Honig