GT Insurance set to merge with Allianz Marine & Transit 

We're delighted to announce that GT Insurance will be merging with Allianz Marine & Transit (AM&T) as of Monday 3 April 2023.

This merger offers an exciting opportunity to be "better together". Over the next two years, we will be strategically combining our strengths, unifying our teams and businesses, and enhancing our brand to provide trusted insurance solutions.

The merging of two great businesses is an exciting opportunity to expand our core markets. We have many business synergies and more importantly aligned values.
Tony Dodd
Chief Executive Officer
GT Insurance

AM&T and GT Insurance currently have complementary offerings using broker distribution models and specialised products encompassing transport, marine and logistics cover. By streamlining and simplifying our processes and services, we look forward to building even stronger broker relationships and increasing our customer satisfaction.

The merger is the next logical step in the evolution of AM&T, we can capitalise on the strengths and expertise of two great teams to bring a stronger offering to the market.
Shelagh Bock
GM AM&T

In the coming months, teams from GT Insurance and AM&T will work together to plan how to integrate our operating models. There will be no changes to how we deliver products, services, or support to our brokers or clients during this planning phase. Once there are clear plans any changes that impact the broker network will be clearly communicated.

If you have any questions about the upcoming merger, please don't hesitate to contact your local GT Insurance or AM&T representative.

Four Rules for Sharing the Road with Heavy Vehicles

All road users need to take extra care and be aware of heavy vehicles. A heavy vehicle can range from a truck, bus, semi-trailer, livestock transporter, cement truck, road train, oversize vehicle, and more. A crash involving a heavy vehicle is more likely to cause serious injury or death because of its size, weight, and length.

Here are four general rules to help you stay safe when sharing the road with heavy vehicles:

Do not cut in front
Cutting in front of a heavy vehicle can be extremely dangerous. Heavy vehicle drivers have certain limitations when it comes to accelerating and slowing down. By cutting in front, you may not give them enough time to slow down safely, potentially resulting in a crash.

Give space when turning
Heavy vehicles may need to take up more than one lane when turning at intersections and roundabouts. Make sure you give them enough room and never put your vehicle in the path of a large vehicle when turning – you might be crushed. Stay behind and wait.

Don’t pull in front at traffic lights
When a heavy vehicle is approaching a traffic light that’s changing to red, do not pull in front of it – it may not be able to stop in time and may cause an accident.

Be aware of their blind spots
Due to their size and length, heavy vehicles have larger blind spots than an average vehicle. This means a heavy vehicle may not be able to see your vehicle, so take care when driving next to or behind a heavy vehicle and stay out of their blind spot as much as possible.

Sources:

GT would like to congratulate Ben Briscoe, who has been internally promoted to the role of General Manager, Underwriting & Technical Services, effective as of January 1st this year. Ben was previously National Underwriting & Portfolio Manager with GT, until recently stepping into the new role, taking the reins from Peter Rogl. Peter is now taking on the role of System Optimisation Development Manager. We are extremely grateful to Peter who is graciously handing the baton over to make way for a new era.

“[Pete] has selflessly agreed to hang around a little longer as we have a few projects in which his expertise will be greatly appreciated. Peter has been with GT since 1996 and it is without a doubt that he has had a major influence on GT’s success.”
Tony Dodd, CEO

Having been with GT since 2021, and with the broader Allianz Group since 2011 with working in Australia and Germany, Ben’s knowledge, experience, and commitment to excellence made him the ideal candidate. This multifaceted senior role has Ben developing GT’s technical strategy, and driving results through product development, pricing, and portfolio management. He is also responsible for training our underwriters and relationship managers in all branches, as well as being the ultimate referral point for all GT staff and referral conduit to Allianz.

Tony Dodd, CEO commented: “Since joining GT, Ben has been a fantastic contributor to our business. His technical expertise and project management skills combined with his strong result driven values have proven to be a key formula. He has been instrumental in delivering a number of key initiatives and has a solid plan to strengthen GT’s reputation for customer excellence.”

Congratulations again to Ben on his well-deserved promotion. 

During the month of October, 24 team members from GT Insurance participated in the One Foot Forward fundraising event where they stepped together to show their support for mental illness.

October is Mental Health Month, which is why the Black Dog Institute holds their annual One Foot Forward event, inviting everyone across the country to walk, run or roll in solidarity for the 1 in 5 Australians who experience symptoms of mental illness every year.

The GT team walked a total distance of 1,694km – that’s walking from Sydney to Melbourne and back again! GT’s fundraising goal was $5,000, with the team smashing their target, raising a total of $6,204.

We are extremely proud of our team and would like to congratulate everyone who took part in the challenge.

GT is extremely proud to have taken out the gold medal in the Commercial Motor category.

Insurance Business Australia’s (IB) Brokers on Underwriting Agencies survey uncovers the top underwriting agencies in the country by reaching out to hundreds of brokers and inviting them to participate in a survey. Five hundred brokers completed the survey, ranking their top three underwriting agencies across 16 major types of insurance.

When ranking their top three underwriting agencies, IB provided brokers with seven different factors to take into consideration: coverage, overall service level, turnaround times for new business and claims, broker support, premium stability and commission structures.

From the broker’s rankings, IB then calculated the top three winners for each insurance category, awarding gold, silver and bronze medals.

This achievement is a testament to GT’s ongoing commitment to providing the best possible solutions and the greatest service.

Congratulations to the Commercial Motor team and well done to all of the other winners.

In 2021, GT Insurance (GT) celebrated its 25th anniversary. To mark this momentous occasion, CEO Tony Dodd shared his incredible journey with the company and the reasons why he believes GT became the success story it is today.

I’ll never forget my first day at GT in 2006. Nick Zissis had recruited Chris Kindred and I to set up the Queensland office. We’d both come from major corporate environments, and we walked into a room that contained a desk and two phones – that’s it.

From that moment we knew what was expected of us in a make-or-break scenario. We needed to leverage our knowledge of the customer base and the market to build awareness of GT as a brand and a trusted business in Queensland.

Essentially, we were following in Nick’s footsteps when he set up GT – working hard in our sphere of influence to develop the strong relationships and rapport that is the foundation of insurance.

I was in my late 20’s and Chris not much older; with the exuberance of youth, we launched into winning client trust for GT. For the first 12 months, it took over our lives – long hours, weekend work – but we thoroughly enjoyed it and, day by day, we saw the results.

Queensland was just one part of GT’s expansion. Nick had the uncanny ability of putting the right people in the right places and opened offices all over the country. He took us all on a journey – to not necessarily be the biggest, but the best and that still resonates through the company today. GT’s goal remains to be regarded as the best in the intermediated insurance market, delivering great solutions to our clients and financial returns to our stakeholders.

I followed Glenn Lambert into the CEO role in early 2020. During this time, none of us had any real idea how our business and our clients would be impacted by the pandemic but, certainly, transport links have never been more important for supply chain stability and to serve communities. I am exceptionally proud of the way our team has responded to the changing working environment due to the pandemic. We’ve all just got on with what we need to do, which speaks to our customer-centric focus.

“Insurance is all about trust. The market may change, along with the industry, but even as our company has evolved, we have retained fairness as our core value.”

In the last 10 years we’ve seen huge progression of professionalism within the transport industry, as well as an increase in regulation, government requirements and the media spotlight. We’ve been there to work through all of that and reward customers working harder to create a better brand for the industry and a safer workplace. I’d like to particularly call out the many mental health initiatives I’ve seen come to the fore; transport is a dangerous profession both on and off the road, a lonely and isolated environment with long hours away from home. Rightly, there has always been a focus on the way a business managed and controlled their risks, but also how they looked after their people. As a result, insurance pricing models have changed to reflect the risk.

The people side of business is very important to me, and I’ve enjoyed watching the GT team evolve. GT’s growth over the last 25 years is because our people have embraced and are supported by a strong culture – one that is customer-centric.

GT has an excellent team and I’m proud of them every day. Their hard work has been recognised by several awards but that wouldn’t have been possible without our market-facing people supported by a strong back office. Everyone is an important cog in the wheel.

We want to remain the best in the intermediated market, not just in transport, but to be the go-to company for commercial motor. To do that, our people must continue to grow and develop, and we look to every opportunity to help them professionally and personally.

If I could sum up GT in one word, I’d say ‘energetic’. Since day one I’ve been struck with the energy of this business and its people. My heartiest congratulations and thanks to everyone who has been part of the first 25 years and we are all looking forward to many, many more.

TONY DODD

GT Insurance is extremely proud to be named the Winner of the 2022 Mansfield Award in the Specialty category. This is the third time GT has won this award, with previous wins in 2018 and 2020. The Mansfield Awards emphasizes the vital role that claims professionals play in the insurance industry and recognises those achieving excellence in this field.

Another exciting achievement to mention was GT’s first-time nomination as a finalist for the Gold Mansfield Award for overall claims excellence across the insurance industry. Although we didn’t bring home the Gold this year, we’re thrilled to be recognised as one of the four leading claims handlers across the industry.

The annual awards are a not-for-profit event, with this year’s event being in-person since 2020, held at the Establishment Ballroom in Sydney. The funds raised through sponsorship of the awards will cover costs of the event, with all remaining funds being donated to the Amal Mulia Orphanage in Sumatra, Indonesia. This donation will help rebuild and provide care for children orphaned by the earthquake and tsunami in 2007.

This year’s award and nomination really is an outstanding achievement to all of GT’s 165 team members across Australia, especially the claims and recoveries teams. Congratulations to all the finalist and winners this year, and we can’t wait for next year’s event.

For the second year running, GT Insurance has been awarded a coveted spot on Insurance Business’s Top Insurance Employer 2022 list.

Like many other sectors of the economy, Australia’s insurance industry is witnessing job creation at a pace that’s faster than the employment market can adapt to. Because of this competitive market, companies are more motivated than ever to attract talent by offering appealing conditions to potential employees.

To determine how some of the best insurance employers in Australia have been attracting top talent, Insurance Business welcomed self-nominations from all insurance companies. After completing an employer survey outlining their various offerings and practices, employees from the nominated companies were asked to complete an anonymous form, evaluating their workplace on various metrics such as benefits, compensation, culture, employee development and commitment to diversity and inclusion. Organisations that scored an 80% or greater average satisfaction rating based on employee responses and overall size were named Top Insurance Employers for 2022.

GT Insurance is extremely proud to secure a spot on the list for 2022, and would also like to send a big congratulations to all the other awarded insurance companies this year.

I have worked in the insurance industry since 1961, starting at the age of 15. I founded Australian European Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd (AEI) in 1983 with my business partners Peter Gorrie and Stephen Bennett. AEI grew into a large Australian owned brokerage and during our growth period we became extensively involved with heavy and commercial motor and bus & coach business through our associations in these industries. By 1995 our business in these areas had grown to such an extent it led us to consider starting a heavy/commercial underwriting agency which could assist clients in our broking business.

To approach an underwriter to become our security we needed to demonstrate that the agency would be independent of our brokerage business and that we had the qualified personnel to run and manage the business. This led us to approach Peter Rogl who was highly regarded as a heavy motor underwriter with Mercantile Mutual and also Wayne Parrott who was Lumley’s Motor Claims Manager. The approach for security was made to both Suncorp and Lumley on a 60/40 basis and by mid-1996 after Peter had completed developing our policy wordings, claims procedures and assisting with the agency agreement etc, Global Motor Underwriting Agency (Global) was formed with Peter as the Underwriting and General Manager.

In 1999 Lumley decided to leave the agency and an approach was made to Terry Towell, Managing Director of Allianz Australia, where they agreed to take up the option of Lumley’s 40% share of the security. To the best of my recollection, it was in 2001/2002 that Allianz Australia took over 100% of the security in Global and at that time Peter continued to carefully manage the business growing it successfully.

In early 2006 Global’s Brisbane branch operation commenced under the guidance of Chris Kindred and Tony Dodd - this was an immediate success adding significantly to the overall Gross Written Premium (GWP).

In June 2005 I was approached by Terry Towell with a proposal that at first I thought he was having me on, so to speak; the proposal was for Allianz Australia to not only be the security but to take a financial position in Global and in addition they would pass over all their heavy motor business Australia wide for us to grow and manage. To say the least this was a very exciting moment in our history. In all my years in the insurance industry I’d never known any Insurer to pass over a portfolio for someone to manage on their behalf, something you would hope for but never expect.

The arrangement was that I would run the business under my direction with the condition that I gave a commitment to stay for at least five years and in doing so they would give me a “put and call” option as a way out if I wanted to at the expiration of the five year term. Between June and December 2005, I was involved in the legal contracts with David Krawitz who was at the time consulting with Allianz, and from  January 2006 Glenn Lambert took over from David and all contracts and agency agreements including the name change to Global Transport & Automotive Insurance Solutions Pty Ltd, were completed by end of June 2006. 15th July was the commencement of the transition of Allianz business to Global. At the beginning of the transition of Allianz motor business Global was approximately $21M GWP and by the time I departed after 6 years the GWP had grown to $164M (this included $12M of CTP business which came out of the GWP when Glenn took over the operation). I’m very proud of this achievement and the fact that during my time we were able to deliver not only growth, but also operational and underwriting profits that met our partners expectations. The huge growth was due to the expansion into all states (except Tasmania) and regional areas such as Darwin, Albury, Townsville and Newcastle.

As much as Global was a huge and exciting time in my life, by 2011I had come to the point where I felt I could not add anything more to its growth and development. It was time to plan for what came next and that meant a new leader who could spearhead a new era.

I had formed a strong relationship with Glenn Lambert during his tenure at Allianz and continued that when he moved to Austbrokers. Having had regular meetings with Glenn over several years it became clear to me that he would be the perfect choice as my replacement due to his integrity, people skills and strong service ethics. I had no hesitation in recommending him to Terry Towell.

Glenn has now passed the leadership on to Tony Dodd and, like me, he looked for someone who understands that elements of the business need to effectively function together and is also a passionate advocate for product, service and the industry. Tony is an excellent choice and has been with Global since 2006.

I believe some of the most important things all insurance professionals must keep top of mind are know your people, market, product and costs. GT has always prided itself on being close to all its stakeholders and treating everyone with the utmost fairness and giving the best service experience in the industry. I know this will continue and drive an even brighter future.

“My thanks to everyone who has joined me on this adventure, and I wish you all many more years of success.”

NICK ZISSIS

GT Insurance has recently launched our improved customer based centric portal ClaimIt@GT. In an increasingly digital world, for a client, the ability to lodge claims online is essential. With the Insurance needs of Australian transport operators constantly changing, ClaimIt@GT streamlines the lodgement process. Automating many paper-based procedures through an online portal makes claims handling fast and efficient. ClaimIt@GT improves collaboration and helps you avoid incomplete lodgements and errors caused by misreading handwritten forms.

Claim lodgement is uncomplicated thanks to its intuitive technical design based on the input we received from our clients and businesses across Australia. Everything flows logically, so drivers can lodge their own claim information 24/7, from anywhere on the road (so long as there's the internet). This information is automatically shared with their broker if the contact details are shared at lodgement. and transport operator, and both are alerted to any missing documents or incorrectly submitted information.

ClaimIt@GT is both secure and paperless which helps manage client information more easily, while giving brokers access to all lodgement materials so they can review their client’s claim before it’s submitted to GT Insurance. With ClaimIt@GT you cut admin time and the hassle of misplaced paperwork. So do the logical thing, lodge using ClaimIt@GT and benefit from the speed and efficiencies of claiming online.

To find out more, visit our claims page here and follow the prompts.