Star Insure

Overview

Ten years, one long-standing partnership, and a brand that's gone from challenger to category leader. We've been Star Insure's creative team since the beginning - shaping their brand, finding their voice, and putting their campaigns in front of the people who care most about their cars.

Brand

When we first started working with Star Insure, they had a collection of product lines each doing their own thing visually. Good for variety, not so great for brand recognition. We consolidated a "house of brands" into a single, unified branded house – one identity that could stretch confidently across every vehicle type and product they offer.

The strategic foundation was built around a simple but powerful truth: Star Insure customers aren't just buying insurance, they're protecting something they're genuinely obsessed with. Whether it's a meticulously restored classic, a gleaming Harley, or a lovingly kitted-out RV named Dolly, these aren't just vehicles. They're part of the family. "Escape the Ordinary" became the platform that tied it all together – a line that speaks to the brand, the customer, and the product all at once.

The illustration work was a deliberate departure from the sea of stock photography that drowns the insurance category. We hand-illustrated the vehicles Star's customers actually own, and matched each one with copy that channelled the culture around it. A Mini Cooper gets a Michael Caine reference. A classic muscle car gets the reverence it deserves. The result is a brand that clearly knows its stuff – because it does.

The "Bet their car's with Star" campaign was built on one sharp insight: nobody is more obsessive about their vehicle than the person who owns it. We leaned into that obsession hard. The creative ran across out-of-home, bus backs, magazines, radio, and digital SEM – meeting Star's audience wherever they were likely to be thinking about their pride and joy.

Web

Building software for an insurance company isn't just about making things look good.

When you're dealing with people's livelihoods, precision isn't negotiable. We've spent a decade architecting, building, and refining the digital backbone that keeps Star Insure running.

Unfortunately, automated processes and sensitive customer data don't make for the sexiest screenshots, so you'll may have to use your imagination a little.

API design and micro-service development

Our API design and development work gave them a modern foundation to build on. We designed and built RESTful API services that dragged their various web tools into the 21st century, complete with OAuth2 authentication and role-based access control.

Think microservices with React front ends and Laravel backends – the kind of architecture that makes developers happy and businesses efficient.

Internal portal software development

The internal portal we built is where the magic happens for their 60+ staff members. It's the core tool managing everything from customer relationships to policy renewals and claims.

Our algorithmic rate calculation system transformed what used to be a manual slog requiring several full-time staff into a process that takes just a few days a month.

The quote system is smart enough to match new enquiries to existing customers and handles automatic attribution to advisors, complete with a sales metrics dashboard that makes the numbers actually useful.

Broker and advisor portal

We also built the Broker and Advisor Portal – a secure space where brokers and advisors can log in and manage their clients' policies in real-time. Getting quotes, requesting changes, lodging claims – it all happens seamlessly without anyone having to pick up the phone and play telephone tag.

Web design and development

The customer-facing website runs on Silverstripe CMS because flexibility matters when you're managing complex insurance products.

We've also built several React single-page applications for quotes and claims that actually make dealing with insurance less painful – revolutionary, we know.

Accounting automation

Our accounting automation tools read bank statements and automate reconciliation processes that used to consume entire workdays. The system reads emails from brokers, recognises policies, and allocates payments automatically. It scans bank statements to match client payments correctly.

The result?

We've freed up 114 hours per month that used to be spent on manual data entry – that's nearly three full-time positions worth of work now happening automatically, giving Star Insure the breathing room they needed to actually grow their business.

The "Automailer"

The "Automailer" is probably our favourite piece of kit – the ultimate tool for client communications. This Laravel application takes input from staff, scans data from PDFs and CSVs, and dispatches everything from policy documents to payment reminders.

It's got parsing, data lookup, email queuing with retry systems, and full audit trails.

Basically, it's eliminated hours of manual work each month while making sure nothing falls through the cracks.

Legacy software API integration

We've also tackled legacy software integration, building a user-friendly interface that sits on top of their existing policy management system. By creating our own layer and integrating through SOAP APIs, we've transformed clunky old systems into streamlined workflows that actually help people get their jobs done.

Got a project in mind?

Have a chat with The Caretakers.

Whether you're in Auckland and can join us for a cold pint, or you're based elsewhere in New Zealand where a video call will have to do for now, we'd love to hear from you. Let's build a website that's fast, secure, and a pleasure to use.

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Phone: 09 929 1216