Headquarters:

Level 13, 167 Eagle Street, Brisbane, Qld 4000

Year founded:

2012

Number of employees:

Phone:

07 3222 9400

Email:

proposals@woodina.com.au

Website:

woodina.com.au

LinkedIn:

linkedin.com/company/woodina-underwriting-agency

“As leaders, we inspire our team, valuing collaboration and spearheading change while sharing our knowledge to mentor the upcoming legal minds”

Oatley Vigmond

Woodina Underwriting Agency

Michael Wood

Chief Executive Officer

Anita Lane

Director

Michelle Morrissey

National Claims Manager

Leadership

Michael Wood began his career as an insurance and reinsurance litigation lawyer, qualifying in Brisbane in 1986 before moving to London in 1990 to further hone his skills. After becoming a partner at a London law firm, he launched PI Direct in 1997, a unique underwriting agency that directly underwrote professionals, with an in-house law firm handling claims through to trial. PI Direct quickly became one of the leading PI underwriting agencies in the UK before being sold in 2006. In 2012, Wood brought his innovative claims model to Australia, founding Woodina Underwriting Agency, now a leader in the Australian PI market.

Chief Executive Officer

Michael Wood

Anita Lane began her insurance career as a specialist broker in Melbourne before pursuing her ambition of working at Lloyd’s of London, where she spent six years honing her expertise. In 2010, she co-founded Solution Underwriting Agency and has played a pivotal role in shaping and growing the award-winning business into what it is today. With over 30 years of experience, Lane continues to drive the company forward while maintaining strong stakeholder relationships both locally and in London. Passionate about diversity, inclusion and mentoring, she is committed to coaching the next generation of industry professionals and is currently pursuing her MBA. An award-winning insurance leader, Lane has been recognised multiple times in the Top 100 and Elite Women categories.

Director

Anita Lane

Michelle Morrissey, UAA’s national claims manager, brings over 14 years of experience in the insurance industry. Throughout her career, she has specialised in claims management, process improvement and team leadership, successfully managing large-scale claims operations across multiple states. Now leading UAA’s national claims team, Morrissey is dedicated to ensuring efficient service delivery, compliance, and client satisfaction. Her passion for innovation continues to drive her efforts in enhancing both the client experience and operational efficiency, making her a key leader in UAA’s ongoing commitment to excellence in claims management.

National Claims Manager

Michelle Morrissey

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Howaida Nakhla

National Underwriting Manager

Howaida Nakhla brings over 48 years of experience in the insurance industry, with the last 38 years specialising in underwriting and managing engineering and casualty portfolios. Before joining MECON Insurance, she held senior underwriting management roles across Queensland and NSW. Nakhla is renowned for her exceptional service ethic and deep passion for underwriting, earning her a strong reputation in the market. Her commitment to her clients and her expertise in managing complex portfolios make her a highly respected figure in the industry.

National Underwriting Manager

Howaida Nakhla

Blake Baxter

Head of Claims and Incident Response

Blake Baxter is an experienced insurance professional with over a decade of expertise spanning insurance, accounting, and the legal sector. A cyber insurance specialist, he has a strong background in building incident response and claims handling functions. He has worked extensively across financial lines claims, including professional indemnity, D&O and cyber and has also gained valuable experience in corporate insolvency, managing complex claims portfolios, liaising with defence counsel and brokers and refining claims handling policies. Baxter joined Emergence Insurance in March 2020 to establish an in-house claims handling and incident response function. This strategic move has given Emergence a competitive edge, providing quicker and more efficient support to clients and helping them recover faster from cyber incidents.

Head of Claims and Incident Response

Blake Baxter

Woodina Underwriting Agency is one of Australia’s leading professional indemnity (PI) underwriting companies, with offices in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. The company prides itself on delivering exceptional service to brokers, offering everything from fast quote turnarounds to a user-friendly online portal, all backed by its unique and highly awarded claims model. Woodina is the market leader for property valuers and has developed strong schemes for sectors such as estate agents (NSWREI), bookkeepers, building designers and inspectors for pre-purchase, pools and pests. One of the key advantages of its claims model is the significant defence cost savings. This approach not only leads to more efficient claim resolutions compared to using external law firms, but it also provides a unique PI benefit: the insured’s deductible is not eroded by internal defence costs. This model ensures that there is no pressure to settle unmeritorious claims simply to avoid high legal costs. Sustainable and profitable growth is always a priority for Woodina. With nearly half of all policies processed seamlessly online, the company has also introduced “continuous policies.” Under this initiative, if there are no material changes to the risk, the policy automatically renews, with a new proposal form required only every third year.

“We’re committed to delivering the highest level of service, assuring clients that their welfare is the firm’s utmost priority”

Oatley Vigmond

Nikil Deo

Head of Technology

Gerald Chan

Partner

Nader R. Hasan

Partner

Liane Brown

Partner

Nikil Deo is a seasoned technology professional with over 20 years of experience in the financial services sector, specialising in technology and cyber solutions. Throughout his career, he has witnessed and contributed to the transition from mainframe computing to today’s cloud ecosystem, alongside the evolving landscape of cyber risks. He has been part of several pioneering initiatives, including becoming the first APAC customer for Microsoft’s BPOS cloud offering and helping launch Australia’s first “pay as you drive” product. Now with Emergence Insurance, Deo is excited to apply his extensive expertise to help deliver innovative cyber insurance solutions to the Australian market.

Head of Technology

Nikil Deo

Gerald Chan has been named one of the Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in Canada (Canadian Lawyer, 2019), one of the Top 50 Trial Lawyers in Canada (Benchmark Litigation, 2023–24), White-Collar Crime/Enforcement Litigator of the Year (Benchmark Litigation, 2023), and Criminal Defence Lawyer of the Year, Toronto (Best Lawyers, 2024). He is a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and a faculty member with the National Criminal Law Program. Chan is a bencher of the Law Society of Ontario. He serves as vice chair of the Law Society Tribunal, Appeal Division, and a Trustee of the Law Foundation of Ontario.

Partner

Gerald Chan

Nader R. Hasan, a partner at Stockwoods LLP, practises criminal, regulatory, and constitutional law at both the trial and appellate levels. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, where he has taught courses on the law of evidence and currently teaches a seminar on criminal punishment from a US-Canada comparative perspective. He is a co-author of Search and Seizure (Emond, 2021), Digital Privacy: Criminal, Civil and Regulatory Litigation (LexisNexis, 2018), and Sentencing, ninth edition (LexisNexis, 2017), and an author of numerous articles on criminal and constitutional law.

Partner

Nader R. Hasan

Liane Brown is committed to representing individuals who have suffered serious personal injuries and to families who have suffered the loss of a loved one. Her practice concentrates on personal injury law, including accident benefits, motor vehicle collisions, medical malpractice, occupiers’ liability, product liability and wrongful death cases.

Partner

Liane Brown

Partner

Liane Brown

Ben Irantalab enjoys the complexities of personal injury litigation. His practice is exclusively devoted to representing clients with brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and severe orthopedic injuries. For him, the cases that require special creativity and thinking outside the box are the most gratifying.

Partner

Ben Irantalab

On a larger scale, HSH handles class action and mass tort lawsuits representing groups of people injured by dangerous products, medications, medical devices, and negligent organizations. The HSH team is known for providing caring and attentive service to clients, and is proud of the firm’s excellent reputation within the legal and medical communities.

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“We will continue to strengthen our service proposition and customer experience as a key differentiator, as we build on the momentum we have achieved to date across multiple business lines and territories,” says McLean. “Our im is to continue to grow our market relevance and strengthen our partnerships with our strategic brokers as we expand our leadership position in key sectors. “We will also continue to invest in talent. We are committed to drawing from the broadest pools of talent, and to creating an environment that attracts and retains stellar employees. We recognise the importance of building teams that are diverse, collaborative, and innovative and are dedicated to cultivating a supportive and inclusive workplace culture in which all our employees can thrive.”

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By partnering with FTA, businesses gain a trusted, reliable ally that’s fully committed to both their success and the protection of their clients.

Fast turnaround: FTA quotes more than 65% of new business submissions within 48 hours, helping clients secure coverage quickly. Competitive rates: Whether your client’s risk is large or small, FTA offers premiums starting at just $400, making insurance affordable and accessible. Long-term stability: With a three-year long-term capacity agreement in place with eight highly respected Lloyd’s Syndicates, FTA guarantees long-term security and reliability. Award-winning expertise: As a five-time 5-Star award winner, FTA is recognised as an industry leader in risk solutions. Expert underwriting: FTA’s team of experienced underwriters provides tailored solutions to meet the unique needs of each client. Exceptional service: FTA is known for its commitment to clear communication, quick responses and a relentless focus on exceeding client expectations.

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Ben Irantalab

Partner

Ben Irantalab

Partner

Ben Irantalab

Partner

Liane Brown

Medal

Professional indemnity

Travel

Professional indemnity

Turnaround time – claims

BDM support

Broker communication, training and development

Overall service level

BDM support

What FTA covers:

Professional indemnity (standalone and combined with general liability for white-collar professionals) Information technology liability Management liability Design and construct liability Public and products liability Associations liability Cyber insurance Excess layers

What FTA covers:

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