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Before it breaches the brink of regulatory intervention, the Kemper Insurance Cos. announced it cashed in its last major chip, July 22, signaling the end of an 80 year reign for the insurance giant.

Platinum Equity LLC, a Los Angeles-based buyout firm recognized Kemper Services’ potential and capitalized on the corporation’s vulnerable position by taking the service unit off Kemper’s hands.

Platinum plans to staff the unit, which handles property and casualty claims, medical and disability management, and risk and safety consulting with about 3,000 of its remaining 5,000 employees nationwide.

The Kemper Services unit will be operated autonomously from Platinum and will eventually given a different name.

Patricia Drago, the current president and CEO of Kemper Services, will retain her position with the new company.

Kemper's problems have been attributed to the timing of its fast growth strategy. The company was also hit hard recently with asbestos claims, Enron-related claims and even claims from the Boston archdiocese sex abuse scandal.

According to the Chicago Daily Herald, Kemper began shedding its businesses and employees after posting a $312 million loss in 2002 that erased almost a third of its net worth. It sold Kemper Lakes Golf Club and, later, 700 acres of local land to developers.

The one-time insurance giant has been striped down in rapid fashion to just Lumberman’s Life Agency and Eagle, a small Seattle work comp firm.