Alex Morgan, head of general insurance at Zurich, pointed to the insurer’s international crop insurance experience as a foundation for the domestic deal. “As Zurich continues to scale its general insurance business in Australia, this partnership not only offers a unique opportunity to expand into a new market, but also to collaborate with a specialist, data-driven organisation with sophisticated capability,” Morgan said. Zurich’s AI-driven hail modelling formed a central part of Morgan’s case for the arrangement’s technical depth. “The agreement builds on Zurich’s extensive international experience in the crop insurance space and utilises bespoke AI-driven hail modelling developed by Zurich to provide enhanced strength and capacity to CRU’s proposition. The combination of both organisations will build a true powerhouse in the agricultural protection sector,” he said. Peter Book, general manager of CRU, said the arrangement is aimed at improving what growers can access through their brokers. “By combining Zurich’s global risk expertise with CRU’s specialist underwriting capability, the partnership aims to deliver more data-driven, transparent, and responsive insurance solutions to the Australian agricultural sector,” Book said.
