Why I Joined Coalition’s New Team in Australia
I wrote my first cyber insurance policy more than 10 years ago when only the largest businesses were even considering taking out a policy.
In that time, I’ve watched multiple major events and milestones impact the Australian cyber market: DDoS attacks against the Australian Bureau of Statistics on census night in 2016, WannaCry and NotPetya in 2017, and other major ransomware attacks in 2020, all of which ushered in our first hard market for cyber in 2021.
Large-scale data breaches have continued to make front-page news and drive global market fluctuations in 2023. Simply put, cyber insurance has gone from hard to sell to hard to buy.
What often gets lost in the headlines, however, is that small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) are targeted significantly more by threat actors. As an industry, we need to do more to help Australian businesses address cyber risk and help prevent incidents from occurring through effective risk management — and I believe Active Insurance is the solution.
It can be difficult for these small businesses to address cyber risk without guidance and support. I joined Coalition because we can help these businesses by partnering with brokers and providing tools to show how digital risk measures out in dollars and cents.
As the Head of Underwriting, Australia, I’m honoured and immensely excited to be able to announce that Coalition is officially open for business in Australia.
Why Australia?
Cybersecurity is a global problem. After a successful launch in the U.K. in 2022, alongside continued growth and major milestones in the U.S., Australia was the clear next step in our international expansion.
Most Australians, particularly business owners, are acutely aware of their cyber risk. Yet, only 20% of Australian SMEs have a standalone cyber insurance policy. I’m excited to expand access to Coalition’s unique Active Insurance approach and help even more businesses detect, assess, mitigate, and transfer their cyber risk exposure.
Coalition is on a mission to protect the unprotected. Scaling to more than 160,000 customers and more than 600 employees, we've already demonstrated how Coalition can be a global solution for organisations across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. Now, we're bringing our offering to Australia.
Most Australians, particularly business owners, are acutely aware of their cyber risk. Yet, only 20% of Australian SMEs have a standalone cyber insurance policy.
How Coalition is different
Cyber risk is not a normal peril. Using a traditional insurance policy to manage cyber risk is expecting a 20th-century solution to solve a 21st-century problem.
Unlike traditional insurance, created only to cover and transfer risk when the worst happens, Active Insurance is designed to help prevent digital risk before it strikes. By combining comprehensive cyber insurance coverage and cybersecurity tools, Coalition helps businesses manage and mitigate digital risks.
Coalition is entering the Australian cyber market in a meaningful way, knowing that we can help brokers expand coverage to more of their clients. We’re writing businesses up to $2 billion in revenue, with limits up to $20 million. We can also scale down to fit the smallest organisations, with limits as low as $25,000, no minimum premium, and programmatic ways to quickly write business at scale.
Informed by our Active Risk Platform, we write risks based on their own merits, offering broad coverage with an appetite for nearly every industry. We have an unwavering focus on broker servicing and creating real value for our clients. We’re keen to see diversity in account submissions and will not shy away from tough risks that need some guidance.
Unlike traditional insurance, created only to cover and transfer risk when the worst happens, Active Insurance is designed to help prevent digital risk before it strikes.
What to expect from us
As a new entrant here, we'll be introducing ourselves throughout the country with a humble and listening approach. We have a local team of top-notch insurance industry experts bringing experience and consistency for what this new market expects — and we’ll meaningfully grow this team as we continue expanding. Further, capacity for our offering is provided by Allianz Australia, and we’re excited to continue partnering with them going forward.
Though I’ve only been with Coalition for a bit more than a month, I’m already impressed with the smart, driven people who work here and the inspiring company culture. It’s easy to see that everyone genuinely cares about our mission. In speaking with brokers, we’ve heard sentiments that Coalition’s approach is “revolutionary” and “the gold standard from a policy wording standpoint.”
These words validate that we’re on the right track. But here in Australia, we’re only just getting started.
