Insurance pays off for trio
- Doug Strong
- Mar 13
- 2 min read
By
Published on October 8, 2020
Stuart Brady, Joshua Scutts & Douglas Strong from Shielded Insurance
Realising a gap in the insurance market opened a huge possibility for three Coast men who quit their jobs at a major Australian insurance company to work from a garage.
The ambitious risk is paying off, and after celebrating their fourth anniversary on September 28, Shielded Insurance Brokers is also enjoying the success of winning Insurance Business’s Australia Top Brokerage.
Starting off in his garage in 2016 with friends Joshua Scutts and Douglas Strong, Shielded managing director Stuart Brady says it has been a “wild ride”.
“We found a bit of a gap in the insurance industry for Uber,” Mr Brady says.
“We found when Uber first came to Australia, [drivers] were chasing insurance which wasn’t actually covering them properly.
“So, we began a website educating Uber drivers on insurance.”
Upon doing further research, the trio found companies were beginning to offer insurance for ride share drivers, so decided to leave their jobs and branch out into brokerage.
“We spent about nine months in my garage, and it started to take off and burst at the seams,” Mr Brady says.
The team of three has grown to 29 and they now take up four office spaces in Caloundra’s Henzells building.
Now Shielded receives hundreds of referrals each day from major insurance comparison companies for clients who are unable to receive quotes as they are deemed to live in a high-risk area close to beaches, flood or cyclone prone regions.
“We really assist people in high-risk situations,” Mr Brady says.
“It’s exciting, a lot of problem solving and helping people mitigate risks.”
Now Mr Brady hopes Shielded can continue its cycle of 100 per cent year-on-year growth into 2021.
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