The Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF) has cancelled its industry awards for this year due to the unforeseeable impact of the coronavirus epidemic.

The cancellation applies to both the Australian and New Zealand award programs. Winners were to be announced at The Star Event Centre in Sydney on August 27 and at the Cordis hotel in Auckland on November 11.

“Every year the industry puts incredible effort and attention into their awards submissions,” CEO Prue Willsford said.

“Right now, their focus is on providing support and assistance to communities in need during this difficult time, which is why we have made the socially responsible decision to cancel both events.”

Ms Willsford says the annual awards nights provide the opportunity for the industry to come together and celebrate success, and ANZIIF is “extremely disappointed” about the cancellations.

“We would like to take this opportunity to thank all who have begun their submissions, our sponsors, partners and past event attendees who have stuck by us,” she said.

Last year, ANZIIF presented 16 awards at the Australian event and 11 in New Zealand, with hundreds of people attending the events.

Categories include large broking company of the year, authorised representative group of the year, underwriting agency of the year and large general insurance company of the year.

“We will continue to engage with industry to ensure their professional learning and development needs are supported through ANZIIF’s online education capability, which includes video webinars,” Ms Willsford said.

The National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA) is planning for its awards program to proceed, but the format will be different given the COVID-19 situation, a spokeswoman told insuranceNEWS.com.au today.

NIBA has postponed a Melbourne gala lunch scheduled for the end of May, where Victoria and Tasmania regional winners of the Broker of the Year and Young Broker of the Year awards are usually announced.

Awards for the national winners are presented each year at NIBA’s annual convention, scheduled this time for Melbourne in October.