03.07.2019
ARAG launches operations in Australia
The ARAG Group partners with HDI Global Specialty SE – Australia and continues to pursue its international expansion. ARAG Services Australia Pty Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of the German ARAG Group and starting operations as Managing General Agent (MGA) in Sydney in respect of legal expense insurance products, underwritten by HDI Global Specialty SE – Australia.
“We’re continuously strengthening our international business activities through new strategic opportunities for the ARAG Group as our international legal insurance business accounts for 60 percent of our total legal insurance revenue. In 2018, we recorded a premium growth of 7 percent in the Group’s legal insurance segment from EUR 938.9 million to EUR 1,004.3 million”, explains Dr. Dr. h. c. Paul-Otto Faßbender, CEO and majority shareholder of the ARAG Group. In 2018 the ARAG Group raised gross written premiums by 4.3 percent to EUR 1.65 million. “The Australian legal expense insurance market offers interesting growth opportunities and we are eager to get started on the fifth continent, which is now the 18th country ARAG is active in”, adds Dr. Dr. h. c. Paul-Otto Faßbender.
ARAG Services Australia has been appointed by the insurer HDI Global Specialty SE – Australia to act under a delegated authority agreement allowing it to enter into policies and handle claims for legal expense insurance on the insurer's behalf. The Australian ARAG subsidiary offers innovative legal expense insurance products targeting insurance brokers and other intermediaries. The range of products comprises both commercial and private legal expense insurance for families.
Antoinette von Wendt (37) has been appointed CEO of ARAG Services Australia Pty Ltd. She joined ARAG in 2015 and has been working in ARAG's corporate development department. Antoinette von Wendt brings many years of strategy, business development, and digitization experience in the insurance and energy industry.
Mark Fleiser, General Manager and Head of Branch for HDI Global Specialty SE – Australia said: “We are extremely excited to be working with ARAG Services Australia Pty Ltd to bring a new legal expense insurance offering to the Australian market. We recognise the significant value in providing customers with insurance cover during times when they face unanticipated legal expenses.”