Assurant 2012 Annual Report Download - page 77

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 77 of the 2012 Assurant annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 144

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • 127
  • 128
  • 129
  • 130
  • 131
  • 132
  • 133
  • 134
  • 135
  • 136
  • 137
  • 138
  • 139
  • 140
  • 141
  • 142
  • 143
  • 144

ASSURANT, INC.2012 Form10-K F-1
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of Assurant, Inc.:
In our opinion, the consolidated  nancial statements listed in the index
appearing under Item 15(a)1 present fairly, in all material respects, the
nancial position of Assurant, Inc. and its subsidiaries (the “Company”)
at December31, 2012 and 2011, and the results of its operations
and its cash  ows for each of the three years in the period ended
December31, 2012 in conformity with accounting principles generally
accepted in the United States of America. In addition, in our opinion,
the  nancial statement schedules listed in the index appearing under
Item 15(a)2 present fairly, in all material respects, the information set
forth therein when read in conjunction with the related consolidated
nancial statements. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in
all material respects, e ective internal control over  nancial reporting
as of December31, 2012, based on criteria established in Internal
Control—Integrated Framework issued bythe Committee of Sponsoring
Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).  e Company’s
management is responsible for these  nancial statements and  nancial
statement schedules, for maintaining e ective internal control over
nancial reporting and for its assessment of the e ectiveness of internal
control over  nancial reporting, included in Management’s Annual
Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting, appearing
under Item 9A. Our responsibility is to express opinions on these
nancial statements, on the  nancial statement schedules, and on
the Company’s internal control over  nancial reporting based on our
integrated audits. We conducted our audits in accordance with the
standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United
States).  ose standards require that we plan and perform the audits
to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the  nancial statements
are free of material misstatement and whether e ective internal control
over  nancial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our
audits of the  nancial statements included examining, on a test basis,
evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the  nancial
statements, assessing the accounting principles used and signi cant
estimates made bymanagement, and evaluating the overall  nancial
statement presentation. Our audit of internal control over  nancial
reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over
nancial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists,
and testing and evaluating the design and operating e ectiveness 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.
As discussed in Note2 to the consolidated  nancial statements,
the Company changed the manner in which it accounts for the
costs associated with acquiring or renewing insurance contracts on
January1,2012.
A company’s internal control over  nancial reporting is a process designed
to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of  nancial
reporting and the preparation of  nancial statements for external
purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
A company’s internal control over  nancial reporting includes those
policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records
that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly re ect the transactions
and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) provide reasonable
assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation
of  nancial 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
e ect on the  nancial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over  nancial
reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections
of any evaluation of e ectiveness 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.
/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
New York, New York
February20, 2013