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Protective Asset Protection celebrates 60 years of protecting automotive vehicles while helping dealers achieve profitability
PRESS RELEASES - August 15, 2022
Chesterfield, MO (August 15, 2022) – Protective Asset Protection began protecting automotive cars and trucks 60 years ago and then added motorcycles, powersports, marine and specialty vehicles. Today, Protective is best known in the industry for providing a strong legacy of F&I products that help protect each vehicle investment while equipping dealers with the F&I products they need to instill confidence and trust in their customers.  
Protective celebrates 60 years of service this month, a milestone only the very best industry leaders truly enjoy today where organizations and their employees must have the industry knowledge and business agility to adapt to ever-changing market conditions year in and year out. Since 1970, Protective has protected over 43 million vehicles from every kind of mechanical breakdown possible. Today, Protective has continued this legacy of protection and has taken a leadership role in helping dealers offer F&I products for a whole new era of technology-forward vehicles.


Industry-leading training & adapting to new business models

To best serve dealer partners, Protective has always made sure dealers are properly trained on each and every F&I product option available for customers. The company has remained staunch in their commitment to offering a comprehensive and ongoing curriculum of training materials for its dealer partners across the U.S – whether in person or adapted to video and web especially through significant challenges to the industry, such as a global pandemic. Protective has continuously led with speed and agility for business adoption, such as online F&I options and contactless vehicle programs made available to help dealers keep their businesses open during the pandemic.


How it all began

Western Diversified (WD) opened its doors in the early 1960s and started writing vehicle service contracts (VSCs) around 1980. The original administrator was Western Diversified Services.  In 1987, Western Diversified Casualty was formed as the underwriting insurance company and about the same time, WD was bought by John Alden Life, where it introduced GAP in the mid 1990s. In 1997, WD was sold from John Alden to Protective Life Insurance Company. 

The company’s first RV program was taken in-house by Protective in 2004 (from GE-General Electric) and marketed as Xtra-Ride.

In 2006, Protective purchased the vehicle service contract and limited warranty assets of Western General Insurance Company, followed by their purchase of Prizm in 2009.  

In 2015 Protective Life Insurance Company and its subsidiaries, including Protective Asset Protection, were acquired by Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company. In 2016, Protective purchased the automotive vehicle service contract, GAP and ancillary product assets of United States Warranty Corporation (USWC) of Pompano Beach, FL. The DOWC-dealer owned warranty corporation type of participation came with this acquisition.

In quick succession, subsequent acquisitions have included Revolos Corporation in 2021, and more recently AUL Corporation in 2022. 


Helping dealers remain as profitable as possible

The addition of DOWC was critical because participation programs allow dealers to own, market, sell and support their own branded F&I program by owning their own company. Besides greater profit potential on F&I sales, another advantage is that dealers can customize their own F&I offerings. For example, a dealer can build a portfolio of F&I products that caters to a variety of branded vehicles, not just one. These F&I products can range from service contracts to ancillary products and enable optimum profit potential for participating dealers, all administered by Protective.

Earlier this year, Protective’s acquisition of AUL Corp., provided additional resources to further support dealers with premium F&I product offerings, especially for higher-mileage cars and trucks which are in great demand in today’s automotive marketplace. 


“Over the last few decades, our company has experienced tremendous growth and our team has increased significantly, creating quality opportunities for employees around the country, said Scott Karchunas, president, Protective Asset Protection. “But, we have not done this alone. Our journey has been made possible by the outstanding support of our committed agent and dealer partners who have put their trust in Protective.  As partners we have worked alongside our agents and dealers to continuously meet the needs of our evolving markets and grown together. It is fitting that we express our gratitude and share our success with them. With their continued confidence in our longstanding partnership, we are encouraged and inspired to continue serving them even better in the future.”


About Protective Asset Protection  

Protective Asset Protection has been providing F&I solutions for the automotive industry for 60 years. We proudly serve thousands of dealerships throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico, with innovative F&I products, training, dealer participation programs and technology. Our portfolio of vehicle protection plans, GAP coverage, limited warranties and ancillary products provide opportunities to generate revenue with products that help drive customer retention and satisfaction. Protective Asset Protection is part of the financial services holding company, Protective Life Corporation. For more information about Protective Asset Protection call 800-794-5491, or visit www.ProtectiveAssetProtection.com.