Southern Cross travel insurance awarded five stars in Australia
Wednesday 9 September 2009, 12:09PM
By Porter Novelli
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New Zealand’s Southern Cross Travel Insurance (SCTI) has come out on top of a comprehensive Australian travel insurance survey by financial services research company Canstar Cannex - after less than six months operating in the Australian market.
Canstar Cannex compared 44 travel insurance brands and 111 products to develop its first ever travel insurance star ratings and named only two companies as offering five-star value – one of which was Southern Cross Travel Insurance.
SCTI CEO Craig Morrison says Australia was the company’s first foray into an international market and reversed the trend of Australian companies opening in New Zealand. SCTI launched its web sales channel, and promotional activity in Victoria and Queensland, in April of this year.
“We are delighted to receive this sort of recognition so quickly. It’s a real validation of the decision to enter the Australian market and of the quality of our product.
“In New Zealand Southern Cross is an iconic brand that is known and trusted, and Southern Cross Travel Insurance has achieved a very significant presence in the online space. One of our key challenges in Australia was that our brand had almost no recognition so we were very much starting from scratch.”
He says the company decided to launch in Australia after it felt there was a gap in the market for a direct-to-consumer, online service – with the majority of Australian consumers still buying travel insurance through their travel agent.
“SCTI has played an important role in the evolution of the New Zealand travel insurance market, where more travellers now purchase their travel insurance direct and online than by any other sales channel.
“We think the Australian market is likely to move in the same direction and we see an opportunity to play a positive role in that process, offering an easy online purchase process at competitive prices.”
SCTI is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Southern Cross Health Trust, which is part of the Southern Cross Healthcare Group. The company’s Australian site is at www.scti.com.au.