Leading Strata Insurance Specialist Announces Key Appointments

CHU, Australia’s leading strata insurance specialist, today announced two key internal appointments.

This follows the retirement of Joe Coppolecchia as State Manager, after 18 years with CHU. Mr Coppolecchia led the CHU Queensland claims function for a number of years. In 2015 he took on the State Manager’s role in an acting capacity and took on the role permanently in early 2018.

“Our Queensland business has enjoyed stability and strong growth under Joe’s leadership. In addition, his work in establishing our NT business has been very successful and a legacy that will always be linked to Joe,” said CHU CEO Bobby Lehane.

The new appointments are:

CHU’s Chief Disruptor Ani Kakulapati, who has led CHU’s futureproof strategy, has been appointed Queensland and Northern Territory State Manager.

CHU’s Head of Direct business Frank Scamarcia has been appointed General Manager of CHU’s newly revamped digital underwriting agency, Flex Insurance.

“CHU’s announcements today demonstrates the depth of our people’s experience, which enables us to focus on promotion from within,” said Mr Lehane. “CHU encourages and nurtures staff to rise within the company.”

He pointed out that last year 7% of staff at CHU were promoted.

Mr Kakulapati is no stranger to the CHU QLD business, having spent a number of years in the Queensland Service Manager role, prior to relocating to Sydney, where he took on his current role as Chief Disruptor for CHU.  He has spent more than 10 years with CHU in various roles across Victoria, Queensland and NSW, from claims to underwriting.

Mr Scamarcia has been with CHU for 18 months as Head of Direct, setting up landlords and contents products. Previously he had roles at HSBC, Insuranceline and Citi Bank, launching new products and building their brand and sales.