Europ Assistance

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Europ Assistance
TypePrivate company
IndustryTravel insurance and assistance services
FoundedMay 2, 1963 (1963-05-02)
FounderPierre Desnos
Headquarters89 rue Taitbout,
Paris
,
France
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Antoine Parisi (chief executive officer)
ProductsTravel insurance, automotive assistance, health, family and home assistance, travel and concierge services
OwnerGenerali Group (100%)
ParentGenerali Group
Websiteeurop-assistance.com

Europ Assistance is a French assistance company founded in 1963 by Pierre Desnos. It provides travel assistance, medical assistance, roadside assistance, home assistance and travel insurance services.[1] The company is regarded as a pioneer of the assistance services industry and grew into one of the largest companies in its sector worldwide.[2] It has been wholly owned by the Generali group since 2002.[1]

Since May 2026, the activities of Europ Assistance have operated under Redion, a brand created by Generali to group Europ Assistance and Generali Employee Benefits, led by Antoine Parisi as group chief executive officer.[3]

History

1960s

Europ Assistance was founded on 2 May 1963 in Paris by Pierre Desnos, with the backing of Concorde, a French insurance company controlled by Generali.[4][5] In its first year, the company had twelve permanent employees and correspondents in seventeen countries, and carried out 160 interventions.[4] Europ Assistance was one of the first companies to offer travel and medical assistance services, and is credited with originating the French concept of assistance.[4][5] In 1964, it established a subsidiary in Brussels, Belgium, its first outside France.[6] In 1965, Europ Assistance signed an agreement with Dassault Aviation to make a medically equipped Falcon 20 permanently available for air ambulance operations.[7] In 1967, it offered clients a subscription plan covering the United States and Canada,[7] and in 1968 it opened a subsidiary in Italy.[7]

1970s

In 1977, the company reported reaching its ten-millionth client and introduced contracts covering more distant destinations such as Brazil and Kenya.[6]

1980s

In 1980, the company opened a subsidiary in Germany.[6] In 1981, it launched an advice, information and assistance service for everyday problems and opened a subsidiary in the United States.[7] It opened a subsidiary in South Africa in 1984 and a representative office in China in 1989.[7]

1990s

In 1993, Europ Assistance launched a telephone-based assistance service (téléassistance).[7]

2000s

In 2000, Europ Assistance published a European holiday survey based on a sample of 3,500 respondents from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Austria.[8] In 2002, the Generali group acquired a 100% stake in Europ Assistance after Fiat sold its 40% holding.[9] Around the same time, Martin Vial succeeded Yves Galland as chief executive officer of the group, serving until 2014, when he was in turn succeeded by Antoine Parisi.[10] In 2007, the company launched an online insurance platform for travel-sector partners. In 2008, it acquired the US travel-insurance company CSA Travel Protection.[11][12] In 2009, it formed an equally owned joint venture with Bradesco Seguros in Brazil, operating as Europ Assistance Brasil.[13][14]

2010s

In 2010, Europ Assistance partnered with Ashoka to support social entrepreneurship as part of its corporate social responsibility programme.[15] According to a 2012 ranking by L'Argus de l'Assurance, Europ Assistance was the second-largest assistance company worldwide, operating in 33 countries with revenue of €1.417 billion.[5] In 2014, Antoine Parisi was appointed chief executive officer of the Europ Assistance group.[16] Following his appointment, Parisi prepared a strategic plan intended to make the group more agile and to expand in high-growth markets such as Asia and beyond its core assistance business, centralising the group's marketing and sales functions.[17] Toward the end of the decade, Europ Assistance developed digital assistance services, including a telemedicine platform, an artificial-intelligence chatbot and a WhatsApp channel, with its Italian division used as the group's testing ground.[18]

2020s

On 26 May 2026, the Generali group announced the creation of Redion, a brand grouping the activities of Europ Assistance and Generali Employee Benefits under a single identity. The move followed several years of operational integration within Generali's Care division and the group's earlier 2026 acquisition of the Swiss Life Network. Existing Europ Assistance contracts and service arrangements continued unchanged, while the company's US entities adopted the Redion name. Antoine Parisi, who had led the integrated Care platform, was appointed group chief executive officer of Redion.[19]

Activities

Europ Assistance provides travel-related services, including medical repatriation, travel assistance, cancellation insurance and lost-baggage insurance, and automotive assistance services such as roadside assistance, mechanical warranties, claims management, geolocation and embedded telematics.[20]

Ownership

Generali became the sole shareholder of Europ Assistance in 2002, after acquiring Fiat's 40% stake, which Fiat had held since 1994. In 2018,[9] Les Échos reported that Generali accounted for approximately 15% of Europ Assistance's global revenue.[21]

Notes and references

  1. Vadjoux, Thibaud (2013-11-04). "Europ Assistance : 1963-2013, de la naissance de l'assistance aux "care services"". www.newsassurancespro.comhttps (in French). Retrieved 2026-06-23.
  2. "Europ Assistance fête ses 50 ans d'existence". L'Argus de l'assurance (in French). Archived from the original on 2026-05-29. Retrieved 2026-06-23.
  3. Infos, Auto (2026-05-29). "Europ Assistance change de nom et devient Redion dans le cadre d'une nouvelle orientation stratégique de Generali". auto-infos (in French).
  4. "Europ Assistance : 1963-2013, de la naissance de l'assistance aux « care services »". News Assurances Pro (in French). 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  5. "Europ Assistance fête ses 50 ans d'existence". L'Argus de l'Assurance (in French). 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  6. "Europ Assistance assure depuis 50 ans" [Europ Assistance has been providing coverage for 50 years]. L'Écho Touristique (in French). 22 November 2013.
  7. "Notre histoire". Europ Assistance (in French). Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  8. "Record de... non-partants !" [Record number of... stay-at-homes!]. Le Parisien (in French). 13 May 2014.
  9. "Generali to buy 40 pct Europ Assistance from Fiat". WardsAuto. Reuters. 30 September 2002.
  10. "Martin Vial rejoint l'état-major d'Europ Assistance". L'Argus de l'Assurance (in French). Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  11. "Vial, Martin – Directeur général d'Europ Assistance de 2003 à 2014". L'Argus de l'Assurance (in French). Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  12. "Europ Assistance se dope aux nouveautés" [Europ Assistance boosted by new developments]. L'Écho Touristique (in French). 12 September 2008.
  13. "CSA Travel Protection changes brand name to Generali". Travel Weekly. 9 May 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  14. "Europ Assistance y Bradesco crean una 'joint venture' para el mercado brasileño". INESE (in Spanish). 19 February 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  15. "Entrepreneuriat social et empreinte sociale des entreprises, même combat !" [Social entrepreneurship and corporate social footprint: one and the same struggle!]. Le Monde. 27 June 2011.
  16. "Generali hires AXA exec Antoine Parisi into CEO role". Intelligent Insurer. 9 September 2014.
  17. "Europ Assistance engage son plan stratégique pour doper sa croissance". L'Argus de l'Assurance (in French). Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  18. Larizza, Antonio (28 December 2019). "Assistenza virtuale e videochat: da Europ Assistance 200mila casi gestiti dai robot". Il Sole 24 Ore (in Italian). Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  19. "Generali consolidates assistance and travel insurance operations under new Redion brand". ITIJ. 26 May 2026.
  20. "La télématique ouvre de nouveaux horizons pour l'assistance automobile" [Telematics opens new horizons for automotive assistance]. Les Échos (in French). 24 January 2014.
  21. "Comment Europ Assistance veut accélérer" [How Europ Assistance plans to accelerate]. Les Échos (in French). 16 January 2018.