Our values, in triplicate
The rules of doing right by people didn’t change when insurance moved online. Most of the industry just stopped reading them. We wrote ours down and built the whole thing around six.
G’day,
Insurance used to come with a person. You rang the office, said your name, and things got sorted. Somewhere between then and now the person became a portal, the portal became a PDF, and the PDF became a hold queue.
We kept the person and binned the rest. The software does the paperwork. The people do the caring. Quotes come from multiple insurers, prices arrive whole, and when something goes wrong you call us, not the other way round a week too late.
That’s the whole idea. The rest of this page is detail.
How we got here
You rang the office, a person picked up, and your cover got sorted over a cup of tea. When something went wrong, the same person rang the insurer for you.
Hold music, reference numbers and fourteen browser tabs. Cheaper to run, and nobody in particular on your side when it mattered.
The software does the paperwork, multiple insurers price it side by side, and a real broker places the policy and picks up the claim.
The house rules
Every one of these predates the internet, and every one of them survived it. Each comes with what it means when you actually deal with us.
The website is for speed. For everything else there are people, and when you reach us, a person answers. Nobody has ever bonded with a hold queue.
In practice: Write in or get in touch from the contact page and a person replies. The quote form and your account work around the clock.
If a sentence needs a glossary, we rewrite the sentence. You should be able to understand what you’re buying on the first read, before you pay for it.
In practice: Every question in the form carries a plain-English note, and every quote links the insurer’s PDS.
The premium you see is the premium you pay. How we’re paid is disclosed in writing, not buried. They’re the same numbers you’d find if you went digging.
In practice: Each quote shows the insurer’s premium, our broker fee and our commission before you pay. There’s a worked example below.
Multiple insurers, side by side, with what people in your spot commonly choose. The decision stays yours. That’s not a disclaimer; it’s the point.
In practice: Quotes come back side by side, each naming its insurer. When an insurer won’t quote, the page says so plainly.
A policy is a promise, and a claim is the moment it’s kept. You call us, we chase the insurer, and you hear from us before you have to ask.
In practice: Lodge a claim from your account and a broker takes it to the insurer for you.
One form, once. If we already know something, we never ask you to type it again. The filing cabinet is our problem now.
In practice: Your answers save as you go, and your ABN fills in the business details for you.
*EVERYONE HERE IS GARY. LEGALLY, SOME OF US HAVE OTHER NAMES.
Rule three, worked
Two ways, both on the quote before you pay. The insurer pays us a commission: a share of the premium, paid by the insurer out of it, not a charge added on top. And we charge a broker fee of our own, shown as its own line. That’s all of it.
Commission rates differ by insurer and by product, which is why every quote states the dollar amount rather than a percentage you’d have to work out.
Round numbers to show the shape, not a quote or our actual fee. The premium includes the insurer’s taxes and charges. Your quote shows your real figures.
The honest comparison
| Question | Gary.The Gary way | Going direct | A comparison site |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who acts for you | A broker, arranging cover on your behalf | The insurer, selling its own policies | Usually a website that refers you on to an insurer |
| Insurers you see | Multiple, side by side | One | Several, depending on the site’s partners |
| At claim time | Your broker takes the claim to the insurer | You, with the insurer | Usually you, with the insurer you bought from |
| How they’re paid | Commission from the insurer plus a broker fee, both shown before you pay | Built into the premium | Commonly a referral fee or commission from the insurer |
| Business, home and car | All three, one way of doing it | Depends on the insurer | Depends on the site |
Who acts for you
Insurers you see
At claim time
How they’re paid
Business, home and car
How each model commonly works; individual insurers and sites differ. Every option has its place, and the decision stays yours.
Keep reading
Cover
The small-business pack: public liability as standard, property and the rest when you switch them on.
See the coverCover
Building, contents or both, landlords included, compared in the same form.
See the coverCover
Comprehensive or third party, from the daily drive to the good car.
See the coverClaims
Who to call, what to send, and what your broker does from there.
Read onOne form, multiple insurers, for the shop, the house and the car.