Antipodean Underwriting has launched as a 100% independently owned Australian agency, promising faster decisions, local underwriting and in-house claims handling as it enters an increasingly crowded market.
The agency plans to progressively roll out specialist products through the Australian broker market, supported by an end-to-end quote-and-bind platform using artificial intelligence. Antipodean said the technology is intended to reduce data entry and administration while keeping underwriting decisions with its local team.
That focus on turnaround is timely. Claims and new-business turnaround became the two most important criteria brokers use to assess insurers in 2026, overtaking overall service for the first time in Insurance Business’s Brokers on Insurers research.
“We’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what brokers actually want from an underwriting agency. The answer is surprisingly simple—responsive people, sensible underwriting decisions, competitive products, fast turnaround times and an underwriter who genuinely understands their business,” Antipodean chief executive Jaydon Burke-Douglas said.
“Antipodean has been built around those principles. We want to make it easier for brokers to do business with us and, ultimately, to give them another reason to recommend us to their clients.”
Standing out on those measures is likely to be the harder part. Australia now has more than 300 underwriting agencies, giving intermediaries more choice but also increasing competition among agencies for broker business.
Antipodean’s response is to keep underwriting authority close to the transaction. Decisions will be made in Australia, while claims will also be handled locally and in-house rather than being passed to an external claims operation.
Its technology strategy follows the same premise. The agency said AI will form a core part of its operations, but will be used alongside rather than in place of experienced underwriters.
“Technology should make insurance easier, not make it less personal. Our platform is being developed to remove unnecessary friction from the underwriting process while retaining the expertise and judgement of experienced underwriters. Artificial Intelligence is core to our operations and our model will look to use it to its fullest extent to make transacting with us as seamless as possible. We believe the combination of technology and human underwriting expertise can deliver a significantly better experience for brokers,” Burke-Douglas said.
The distinction matters because technology on its own is not necessarily what intermediaries are asking agencies to provide. Insurance Business’s 2025 underwriting agency survey found technical expertise, the ability to place niche and emerging risks and responsiveness all ranked ahead of technology. Brokers have also warned that digital platforms can create additional work when efficiencies for insurers simply shift data entry and administration onto broking teams.
Antipodean is initially offering products across professional indemnity, management liability, cyber and privacy liability, general property, public and products liability and business package cover, alongside several specialist liability products.
Further product launches and technology enhancements are planned as the agency builds out its portfolio.
