CHU, Strata Community Insurance and Strata Unit Underwriters have again come out best in an annual ranking of commercial and residential products by independent analyst StrataRatings.

They were awarded platinum status in both categories for the third consecutive year since the review began in 2018.

“Strata insurance is all about the transfer of risk, and as complexity is added to the underwriting structure such as offshore syndicates or multiple incumbents, the transfer of this risk becomes less certain,” MD Simon Plummer said.

“[This] is why the market leaders in the space have strong and secure underwriters. In addition to this strong base, they build comprehensive products that suit the customer and distribute these fairly.”

In the residential class, Brooklyn Underwriting and Axis Underwriting moved to gold status from silver after they switched to onshore Australian insurers from offshore Lloyd’s syndicates.

“A significant change noted this year was a number of policies changing incumbents from offshore Lloyd’s syndicates to onshore Australian insurers,” Mr Plummer told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“This is a positive change for insured owners due to a reduction in complexity should a significant claim or dispute arise.

“The industry has seen a move away from Lloyd’s syndicates over the past year, which is a positive development for insured owners due to both reduced contractual complexity and also heightened reputation risk on the insurer side.”

Expert Strata Insurance and Longitude Insurance were downgraded to silver status from gold to reflect the change from a single underwriter to multiple underwriting partners.

For a list of the gold, silver and bronze winners, click here.