Discretionary mutual Our Ark has started offering cyclone insurance to its members, the Picnic Labs-operated risk protection business announced today.

Our Ark Cyclone Insurance covers loss or damage arising from an eligible cyclone event to a member’s buildings and/or contents, or consequential loss at the insured addresses, caused by wind, rain, rainwater or rainwater runoff; flood; and storm surge.

A member must have an existing Our Ark risk protection in place for buildings and/or contents and business interruption to be eligible for the cyclone offering.

Our Ark says the cyclone offering’s inclusions and other eligibility criteria are similar to those set by the Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation (ARPC), which oversees the $10-billion Commonwealth cyclone reinsurance scheme.

ARPC criteria state insureds must not be a farm business, properties must be in eligible postcodes, and buildings must not be owned and managed by a government entity.

“Being able to provide cyclone insurance is a great outcome for Our Ark Mutual,” CEO Charles Pollack said.

“Our Ark already offers tailored risk protection solutions at an individual building level. While Cyclone Insurance cannot be tailored, it will only be offered to individual buildings that have cyclone risk, and not as a blanket policy across a portfolio.”

The cyclone offering is issued by Picnic Underwriting as an agent for Pacific International, which is reinsured by the ARPC. Pacific International, part of Badger Holdings of South Africa, has capacity arrangements with a number of Australian insurers including Nib Travel and online retailer Pet Circle.

Our Ark at present has about 91 members who collectively have insured assets worth $2.34 billion across the country.

In a separate release, Picnic Labs says it has added to its team as the insurtech continues to grow its presence.

“We’ve experienced significant growth for our first mutual, Our Ark and the growing pipeline for feasibility studies for new mutuals from a wider range of sectors has required us to boost our team,” Mr Pollack, who is also Picnic Labs CEO, said.

He says two account directors now support existing partner brokers for Our Ark. “Plus, every week they are fielding queries from new brokers seeking to understand what’s possible for their clients.”

Here are the new additions to the Picnic Labs team:

·       Anne Durkin, General Counsel

·       Thomas Joe, Head of Technical Accounting (Mutuals)

·       Ema Ekic, Account Director

·       Tane Mitchell, Account Director

·       Steve Kirton, Head of Finance (Picnic)

·       Bri Borg, Underwriting & Claims Assistant