ASSURANT INC
For the period ended Dec 31, 2023. Filed Feb 15, 2024.
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FY2023 · Filed Feb 15, 2024
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Item 8. Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of Assurant, Inc.
Opinions on the Financial Statements and Internal Control over Financial Reporting
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Assurant, Inc. and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, and the related consolidated statements of operations, of comprehensive income, of changes in stockholders’ equity and of cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2023, including the related notes and financial statement schedules listed in the index appearing under Item 15(a)(2) (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). We also have audited the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2023 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the COSO.
Basis for Opinions
The Company's management is responsible for these consolidated financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting appearing under Item 9A. Our responsibility is to express opinions on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and on the Company's internal control over financial reporting based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud, and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.
Our audits of the consolidated financial statements included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.
Definition and Limitations of Internal Control over Financial Reporting
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Critical Audit Matters
The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (i) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (ii) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.
Valuation of Claims and Benefits Payable Reserves for Global Lifestyle, Global Housing and Non-Core Operations Short Duration Insurance Contracts
As described in Notes 2 and 17 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company maintains claims and benefits payable reserves for short duration insurance contracts. Reserves are established using generally accepted actuarial methods and reflect judgments about expected future claim payments. The reserve liability is based on the expected ultimate cost of settling the claims. As of December 31, 2023, the Company’s total liability for claims and benefits payable was $1.99 billion, which included $1.79 billion of liabilities for short duration contracts within the Global Lifestyle and Global Housing reporting segments as well as within its non-core operations. Claims and benefits payable reserves include case reserves for known claims which are unpaid as of the balance sheet date; incurred but not reported reserves for claims where the insured event has occurred but has not been reported as of the balance sheet date; and loss adjustment expense reserves for the expected handling costs of settling the claims. Factors used in the calculation of the reserves include experience derived from historical claim payments and actuarial assumptions. As described by management, the best estimate of ultimate loss and loss adjustment expense is generally selected from a blend of different actuarial methods that are applied consistently each period, considering significant assumptions including projected loss development factors and expected loss ratios.
The principal considerations for our determination that performing procedures relating to the valuation of claims and benefits payable reserves for short duration insurance contracts is a critical audit matter are (i) the significant judgment by management when determining their estimates; (ii) a high degree of auditor judgment, subjectivity and effort in performing procedures and evaluating audit evidence related to the actuarial methods and projected loss development factors and expected loss ratio assumptions; and (iii) the audit effort involved the use of professionals with specialized skill and knowledge.
Addressing the matter involved performing procedures and evaluating audit evidence in connection with forming our overall opinion on the consolidated financial statements. These procedures included testing the effectiveness of controls relating to the valuation of claims and benefits payable reserves for short duration insurance contracts, including controls over the selection of actuarial methods, completeness and accuracy of claims data and the development of the significant assumptions. On a test basis, these procedures also included, among others, testing the completeness and accuracy of historical claims data provided by management and the involvement of professionals with specialized skill and knowledge to assist in either (i) testing management’s process for determining the estimates by evaluating the appropriateness of management’s actuarial methods and the reasonableness of projected loss development factors and expected loss ratio assumptions; or (ii) developing an actuarially determined independent estimate utilizing actual historical data and loss development patterns, as well as industry data and other benchmarks, and comparing this independent estimate to management’s actuarially determined reserves.
/s/PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
New York, New York
February 15, 2024
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2000.
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