Zurich’s accident and health unit has acquired renewal rights to a block of accidental death & dismemberment business of Chattanooga, Tenn.-based employee benefits firm Unum.

Unum is exiting the Special Risk AD&D market to focus on other areas and said in a statement on Zurich’s website that says it will “offer replacement policies that reflect the policy provisions you have purchased from Unum and, when possible, the same rates.”

Effective with policies renewing on April 1, 2009, Zurich will offer replacement coverage to those customers of Unum’s group accidental death & dismemberment insurance covered by this agreement. The replacement coverage will retain the same terms and conditions as the coverage currently provided by Unum and will be offered at the same rate, when possible.

The two companies are working on the transition, they said in a statement.

“In making this decision, Unum was committed to making certain our customers continue to enjoy the level of insurance protection and quality of service they had always expected from us,” said Chris Jerome, senior vice president of underwriting at Unum, in a statement.