World Nomads Group European expansion to enhance traveller experience

Leading Australian travel insurer, World Nomads Group (WNG) today announced a significant expansion of its operations in Europe to take greater control of the end–to-end traveller experience.

From today, WNG will begin directly managing its European travel insurance business with the establishment of a Managing General Agency (MGA) in Europe.

The MGA will see the business not only distribute and sell travel insurance in Europe, but also provide all claims and insurance services to its customers.

World Nomads Group Chief Executive Officer, Michael Callaghan, said the enhanced operating model will help increase our capacity to operate in global markets and support our stated growth ambitions.

"We continue to see more people crossing borders to travel the world thanks to changing demographics, increased affordability and accessibility of travel. However, these travellers are often uninsured which presents a great untapped opportunity for our business," Mr Callaghan said.

"By establishing our own European MGA we can take greater control of the entire customer experience which we expect will drive growth and also allow us to better manage product design and pricing," he added.

The transition reflects WNG's current Australia/New Zealand model and will allow the business to provide 24-hour emergency assistance services to travellers across the world.

"It means we'll take more control of the end-to-end traveller experience, allowing us to offer world-class products and services to more people than ever before," he said.

Mr Callaghan reassured current travellers that there will be no impact on their insurance policies with all existing agreements honoured.

"We've put transition agreements in place with our current European partners to ensure there are no interruptions to the traveller experience," he said.

As part of the establishment of the MGA, WNG has set up a new office in Cork, Ireland, employing more than 25 high-quality people to support its European operations. This is expected to increase to more than 80 over the next 18 months.

In place for the UK and Ireland from today, the rest of Europe will come under the MGA from early December 2018.