A privately owned premium funding company says it is “right up there with the majors” thanks to its investment in innovation and technology.

Brisbane-based Premium Funding wrote 30,000 contracts last year and director Ross Hayward says he is intent on doubling that number within two years.

Last year more than 700 brokers placed business with the company, established in 1992 by Mr Hayward’s father Barry and the late Rex Elkington.

“We’ve decided it’s time to change the market’s perception of our company,” Mr Hayward told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “While it’s difficult to precisely rank the funders based on contracts written, we’re confident we are right up there with the majors.”

Premium Funding writes about $250 million in new loans per year, and Mr Hayward says brokers are increasingly looking for alternatives to funders owned by insurers and banks.

However, Premium Funding has often been perceived as a boutique funder. 

“Our results clearly show this is not the case,” Mr Hayward said. “We have the ability to fund the full variety of commercial premiums. But as an independent business, we’ve been the underdog for many years.”

He says Premium Funding has the same number of business development managers as most major competitors and has also increased debt facilities by $100 million to aid future growth plans, “leaving the door open to potential acquisitions of other premium funding businesses”.

Unlike practically every other funder in Australia, Premium Funding does not use Red Planet software. It relies instead on unique systems written by three in-house programmers.

Mr Hayward says Premium Funding was the first in Australia to introduce weekly payment options, signature-free online contracts and an iPhone app to support brokers.