How Blue Zebra Insurance is rewriting the rules of underwriting

As insurance premiums rise, one agile Australian insurtech underwriting agency is finding new ways to meet demand

​In the year to September 2024, Australian insurance premiums surged by 14%, outpacing all other goods and services and intensifying affordability concerns nationwide. Rising premiums across Australia are putting pressure on consumers and insurers, with higher claims costs, extreme weather, and reinsurance hikes squeezing affordability and profitability. As the industry adapts, experts predict a shift toward more data-driven, flexible models to better price risk and meet customer expectations.

Enter Blue Zebra Insurance: an AFSL-licensed underwriting agency based in Sydney that is taking a different approach to insurance by prioritising speed, technology and broker support. Founded in 2018 by former QBE Australia and New Zealand CEO Colin Fagen, the insurtech reflects a broader shift in the industry toward more responsive, data-driven models designed to keep pace with market volatility and rising consumer expectations.

“We’re seeing higher levels of catastrophe activity, and for the amount paid in claims, that's becoming an increasing proportion,” he said.

From coastal properties in Queensland to dense urban builds in NSW, risk exposure is increasing – and so is the need for smarter insurance products, said Mr Fagen, who recently spoke to BusinessThink. “I’m a real believer in adaptation being more important than having necessarily the smartest people in the room. That ability to adapt and move – and a culture of adaptation – actually creates more value.”

Why more insurance businesses should be agile

Mr Fagen’s long career in insurance – including 17 years at QBE in several global senior leadership roles and an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management at UNSW Sydney – has shaped his belief that adaptability is key to survival in today’s market.

Speaking on why he eventually left QBE to start his own company, Mr Fagen said: “What you do learn is how hard it is to move large organisations and large groups of people. Boards often prefer incremental change over major transformation – they don’t want to take that risk. Large organisations have what I call a frozen middle. Bureaucracies slow organisations that then don’t move fast enough in what is now a significantly more dynamic environment.”

Mr Fagen says Blue Zebra Insurance was designed to be the opposite – a lean, outcome-focused business with the tools, systems, risk assessments and mindset to pivot quickly. “We really wanted to build something to compete against the big players as a small and agile organisation,” he said. “If you make a mistake, you can immediately reverse out of it and adapt. If you see innovation ahead of you, you can respond. That speed is becoming more important with how fast markets are moving.”

Subscribe to BusinessThink for the latest research, analysis and insights from UNSW Business School

He added that legacy systems and bloated bureaucracies will continue to hold back incumbents. “The organisations that are stuck on legacy systems and methods will have more and more problems competing. In my experience, newer, well-designed organisations need thousands fewer people to run efficiently. It’s not just about cost – it’s about speed. A business of hundreds can move faster and safer than one with thousands.”

With just 90 staff – including approximately 30 in claims and 25 in IT – Blue Zebra Insurance manages a $300 million+ book with remarkable efficiency. More than 10,000 brokers across Australia use its platform and 2500 usually transact daily, with growing interest from other underwriting agencies seeking to license the system, Blue Leopard, both locally and abroad.

The team is also expanding its SME offerings and building new partnerships in other, more specialised products. But growth isn’t the goal for its own sake – Blue Zebra Insurance’s focus is sustainable, tech-driven scale aligned with broker needs and better customer outcomes.

“Big components of the business are repeatable processes with key controls,” Mr Fagen said. “If systems can handle those, people can focus on what matters – customer relationships, distribution, value-adding work. That’s how you eliminate useless bureaucracy, which I think is a major issue in the Australian economy right now. You can see that in our nation's productivity numbers.”

Insurance brokers are essential to closing the protection gap

At a time when many customers buy policies online through direct providers, Mr Fagen warns that Australians are increasingly underinsured – and often unaware of this issue. Much of this, he says, comes down to the lack of financial literacy across Australia.

Around 45% of Australians are considered financially literate, with 63% of Australian men demonstrating basic financial literacy, compared with just 48% of women. “Financial literacy is a major issue in Australia, and it isn't addressed through the education systems,” he said. 

“We at Blue Zebra have a strong bias towards advice models, because people need advice in these areas. These products and insurance generally can be complicated. We have an industry that has improved considerably in trying to assist the customers' understanding; however, there still can be jargon used as well.”

To bridge this gap, he says the broker market is essential, as it offers better value for money. But rather than mimic the direct-to-consumer playbook used by direct providers, Blue Zebra Insurance has embraced a broker-first model for intermediaries – professionals who can advocate for clients, reduce complexity, and help avoid costly coverage gaps in personal lines and SME portfolios.

“There are examples where, with some insurers, particularly the direct insurers, if your house totally burnt down today, versus an intermediated product, you could be getting up to 50% difference in your payment,” said Mr Fagen.

How insurtech can help lower costs in a high-risk market

Blue Zebra Insurance has grown its presence in personal lines and SME insurance products by investing in systems that reduce inefficiencies across the insurance process. This has been particularly effective in selecting risk in relatively high-risk zones like Queensland and coastal NSW. With gross written premiums now exceeding $300 million, the company’s model challenges traditional providers in the intermediary market.

Through its proprietary platform, Blue Zebra Insurance processed more than 1.5 million quotes last year, with fewer than 2.5% needing manual referral. This compares to referral rates of 10-20% in legacy insurance businesses.

“Our system is extremely efficient and extremely effective,” said Mr Fagen. “That means we can turn quotes around much more quickly and spend the time on that 2.5% of quotes to turn them around a lot more quickly.”

Read more: How resilient is the insurance industry against climate change?

Unlike direct insurers, Blue Zebra Insurance’s tech stack is tailored for intermediaries and built for scale. The platform can support product builds in as little as 60 days, which has facilitated recent expansion into commercial motor cover for small businesses.

Another key differentiator is that $297 million cash of its gross written premium is processed straight-through with no manual reconciliation and no delay. “We don’t have this huge finance area behind the scenes because it’s just not required,” said Mr Fagen.

By prioritising underwriting efficiency and broker alignment, the business demonstrates the agility of its model – offering a more responsive alternative to traditional insurance approaches amid rising market risk and uncertainty.