The Australian property landscape is increasingly dominated by towering residential and commercial strata developments, creating complex and high-value risks that challenge the traditional insurance market. For property owners and the brokers who serve them, securing adequate coverage for these multimillion-dollar assets has often been a fragmented and arduous process, with limited options available for the largest structures. This gap in the market has created a significant demand for insurers with the capacity and agility to underwrite these substantial risks effectively. In response to this evolving need, strata insurance underwriting agency CHU has unveiled a pair of major strategic initiatives designed to not only expand its risk appetite but also revolutionize the operational efficiency of its broker partners, signaling a potential shift in how the industry approaches its most significant challenges. These moves aim to address both the capacity crunch for large-scale properties and the procedural bottlenecks that have long frustrated intermediaries.
Expanding Horizons for High-Value Properties
In a direct move to address the needs of larger properties, CHU has more than doubled its capacity to insure individual strata risks, a significant enhancement of its ability to cover substantial residential and commercial buildings. The agency’s maximum single risk capacity has been elevated from a previous limit of $300 million to an impressive $690 million. This figure is not just a headline number; it represents the comprehensive aggregate sum insured that CHU can offer for any single insurable risk. This includes all property-related sections under a policy, encompassing the primary insured property, vital catastrophe cover, and lot owners’ fixtures and improvements. This expansion is a calculated response to a clear and overarching trend in the property market, where strata developments are consistently growing larger in both physical size and the sheer number of units they contain, demanding more robust insurance solutions to match their scale and value.
The strategic importance of this capacity increase is underscored by the current market dynamics. According to CHU Chief Executive Officer Kimberley Jonsson, while new participants have recently entered the Australian strata insurance market, this influx of capacity has been largely concentrated on smaller, less complex risks. This has inadvertently created a significant gap and heightened demand for more comprehensive insurance options in the “large sum insured space.” CHU’s initiative is precisely targeted to fill this void, providing greater choice and competition for customers with high-value assets. The enhanced capacity empowers CHU to independently quote on these larger risks, which it previously may have been unable to cover alone. Furthermore, it allows the agency to take on more substantial shares in existing coinsurance arrangements, thereby offering more flexibility and stability to the market for premier properties.
Streamlining the Broker Experience through Technology
Alongside its expanded risk appetite, CHU has introduced an innovative indicative pricing feature aimed at fundamentally streamlining the broker workflow and addressing a critical pain point for intermediaries. This new tool, accessible on CHU’s self-service platform, provides brokers with a non-binding premium estimate before a risk is formally submitted for a full underwriting assessment. This initial price visibility gives brokers a crucial early insight, enabling them to make an informed decision about whether to proceed with a formal referral for their clients. Jonsson described this feature as a “game changer,” specifically designed to combat one of the most persistent frustrations for brokers: the often-lengthy wait times for underwriting responses. By delivering immediate price guidance, the tool is engineered to dramatically accelerate the quoting process and enhance overall efficiency.
This technological advancement was part of a broader strategy to empower intermediaries and refine the client service model. The indicative pricing tool allowed brokers to operate more efficiently, freeing up valuable time that could be reallocated to providing expert advice and greater value to their strata community clients. This initiative built upon earlier system changes that had already reduced the need for manual reviews and minimized referral triggers, effectively shortening turnaround times on standard risks. By placing powerful, time-saving tools directly into the hands of brokers, CHU demonstrated a commitment not just to insuring properties but to improving the operational ecosystem for its partners. This dual focus on both capacity and efficiency positioned the agency as a forward-thinking player, one that understood that the future of insurance lay in a blend of financial strength and technological agility that served the entire value chain.
