Automaker Hyundai said it is offering a program, said to be unique in the United States, that will allow consumers to return cars and cancel their auto loans if they lose their jobs or experience any other covered event.

The Hyundai Assurance Program is available on all new Hyundais and in all 50 states, the automaker said on its Web site.

It is available to anyone regardless of age, health, or employment history; covers up to $7,500 in negative equity; and consumers receive 12 months complimentary coverage on every new Hyundai vehicle or loan, Hyundai said. The coverage expires after the 12-month period.

Hyundai said coverage kicks in in the event of involuntary unemployment, a physical disability, loss of driver's license due to medical impairment, international employment transfer, self-employed personal bankruptcy and accidental death.

The coverage is a private label version of Irving, Texas-based Walkaway USA's Protection for Automotive Financing. The Hyundai Assurance Program is being offered to Hyundai exclusively by Walkaway USA, the companies said in a joint statement.

Walkaway USA holds the exclusive U.S. distribution license to the program, which was originated in Canada.

Walkaway is underwritten by the Cincinnati-based Great American Insurance Group.

Jeff Beaver, senior vice president of marketing for EFG Companies, of which Walkaway USA is a subsidiary, said the program was originally created by an insurance executive and an auto retailer in Canada in the late 1990s. The coverage was licensed for U.S. distribution in 2005.

Mr. Beaver said Walkaway USA has talked to other automakers about offering similar coverage opportunities, and since the launch of Hyundai Assurance, he said some other auto companies have come back. Hyundai, he said, is the first U.S. automaker to offer such coverage.

Walkaway USA, he said, has several different programs available to the automotive industry, and he added there is no true competitor for Walkaway USA's programs.

Mr. Beaver said there are programs that offer involuntary unemployment insurance, for example, and he added there are offerings similar to Walkaway's in the residential real estate market, but nothing offered in the automotive space that would compete with Walkaway's programs.

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Hyundai Offering Job Loss Protection On New Car Loans

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