Tell us about Friendsurance.
Friendsurance was founded in 2010 in Germany and was the first peer-to-peer insurer in the world. Friendsurance has now landed in Australia and we’re excited to launch our first product in 2017.
Our innovative peer-to-peer business model allows customers to form groups with friends to meet the cost of smaller claims, providing a cashback bonus if they remain claims free. In Germany, customers have received an average of 33 percent of their premiums back.
Friendsurance partners only with reputable insurance providers to ensure larger claims are covered, as customers never pay more than their original premium regardless of the number of claims. This model makes for very happy customers.
We realise that a person’s insurance requirements today differ from what they were 20 years ago. So we’re responding to customers’ wants by providing more dimensions in the insurance space. We also focus on giving excellent customer service.
What inspired you to get involved with Friendsurance?
In 2012, I was in London for the Olympics and I had heard of Friendsurance in Germany and was curious about the company. It was in the early stages of launching to the market.
I scheduled a meeting with one of the founders, Sebastian Herfurth, and we met and talked about Friendsurance’s ethos, which positively challenged so many of my views of insurance products and what the customer experience should be like. I was extremely impressed and six months later I joined the Board of Friendsurance.
Tell us about your career and background.
I have a B.A. in Business in Economics and Finance and an MBA. I’m also a Certified Practicing Accountant. I’ve worked in executive operations, commercial and finance roles within the Reliance Group, Wesfarmers Insurance, Superpartners and the Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), and North Limited.
I grew up in regional Victoria, being the first member of my family not to have worked on the land. I think even today I look at how my family survived so many natural perils of drought, bushfires and storms to stay ahead – I don’t really have much to complain about. If I could make insurance more affordable I think it would be a big personal achievement.
Describe a typical day for you.
I start in the office a bit later than most people because I work late into the evening. I work from home right when I wake up and then a few times a week I see a personal trainer after that. Sometimes I ride my bike to work and I’m usually in the office by 9:30am. I’m sometimes working until 9pm or 10pm at night because if I’m communicating with the Berlin office, the working day in Berlin at certain times of year starts at 6pm my time so it’s a bit of balance to make it all work.
I’m currently working with our creative team to determine how we can make our message clear and appealing. I also spend time with our partners and new team members and I make sure I allocate enough time in the week to open up new things – I always need to be exploring new opportunities for Friendsurance.
What advice do you have for those wanting to introduce a new business to Australia?
If you’re bringing a business from another country to Australia, it’s important you understand where success is driven from in the model and then you have to make sure it works locally. You have to have a great relationship with the people you are working with overseas. If you have a strong relationship, that will see you through the challenging times that every new business will face. I’ve found it worthwhile to invest a lot of energy in face-to-face meetings (yes, this means long overseas flights). You need to be agile or you won’t make it and you still need to put good discipline around everything you’re doing.
It helps to create a team of people that complement the things you don’t do well or you don’t like doing. That’s why we have a project manager on our team, to keep everyone honest and meeting their deadlines.
What’s next for you, and Friendsurance?
In 2017, we’ll launch our first product in Australia so that obviously is my main focus. We want to take Friendsurance truly global and I expect to be involved in that effort and am really excited about it. We see our business model benefitting consumers and the insurance industry and we’re happy to be leading this positive transformation.
