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Southern Cross Travel Insurance (SCTI) topped the comprehensive survey  on Australian travel insurance, conducted by Canstar Cannex, barely six months  after opening its business operations in Australia.

Canstar Cannex,  a research and financial services firm,   evaluated  44  brands of  travel insurance  together with 111 products to come up with  its first-ever  star ratings for travel insurance.

Southern Cross Travel Insurance  was one of the only two companies that  Canstar Cannex  gave the five-star rating to.

Southern Cross is actually  providing its virtually paperless services online  and is run completely from  New  Zealand.

"The model on the internet works very, very well in New Zealand. So instead of trying to grow by doing something different, we decided to grow with a model that we knew was successful and go to a market close by that's four times the size of New Zealand, " said Craig Morrison the company CEO.

Morrison expressed his excitement about the award, adding that the company was not aware  of  Canstar Cannex's research.  

Morrison says  that  the company  has been operating  for  26 years in New Zealand, where the market has become flat.  Seeking more growth,  the company has turned its eye to other markets.

Australia provided their growth market  and the top rating has added to their excitement about the new market. 

"We're only in month six in Australia but so far it's going very well. The model works pretty good depending on which territory or country we look at," Morrison said.

SCTI and its parent company,  the Southern Cross Health Trust, are under the Southern Cross Healthcare Group.