Local company Protecta Insurance has appointed Assurant subsidiary Virginia Surety Company (VSC) as its new underwriter, with the change set to take effect on September 01.

Protecta, a New Zealand insurer which deals exclusively with motor vehicles, says the change will enable it to further grow its business and to explore new products that may not previously have been available in the country.

VSC is one of the largest underwriters of service plans and warranty products in the world, and is a New Zealand bonded insurer and underwriter with a head office in Christchurch.

“The exciting part is that our new underwriter specialises in the very sort of business that we have held for many years,” Protecta general manager Tony Headland told Insurance Business. “Our previous underwriter was a large commercial insurer, but VSC specialises exclusively in motor products, which is our line of specialty. We see great opportunity here to look at improving our products, and to potentially roll out services that we’ve never had available here before.

“We’ll be sitting down with Virginia Surety once the dust settles from the change and start looking at what they can do with us in this space.”

Protecta offers insurance products for cars, motorcycles and classic vehicles, and also handles the finance products that come with purchasing a motor vehicle - such as payment protection and mechanical warranty.

Headland says the partnership will allow the company to augment its current product offering, and potentially introduce new products into the market.

“We would like to get to know what products our new underwriter has available, and to look at coverage that we don’t currently offer or that hasn’t yet been thought of in New Zealand,” he said. “It’s about stabilising and enhancing what we’ve got, and hopefully coming up with a better offer for our customers.”