Vero has won the Gold Mansfield award recognising claims excellence for the third consecutive year after also taking out top honours in the SME Property and Casualty category.

Six awards were presented last night at an event held at the Establishment Ballroom in Sydney, after presentations were made online for the previous two years.

QBE won the Personal Lines category, Zurich took out the Corporate Property and Casualty award and top honours in Specialty were shared by EBM Rent Cover and GT Insurance.

The inaugural Purple Mansfield was awarded to Natasha Blanch, a commercial assessor with Vero, for her work in supporting a large commercial customer during the flooding disaster in southeast Queensland after her own home was also inundated.

The additional award was created to recognise a company or individual that has gone above and beyond and provided a service that has made a real difference to a client or a community.

The Mansfield Awards, a not-for-profit event run by LMI Group and sponsored by Steadfast and icare, are named in honour of the British Lord Chief Justice who introduced the industry to the principle of utmost good faith some 250 years ago.

LMI Executive Chairman and Founder Allan Manning says 935 products were included in the review and survey used in assessing claims performance in categories other than the Purple Mansfield.

“This year we had 225 of them improve but, no doubt driven by the very hectic catastrophe year, we saw 340 go down in their rating,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au. A further 309 remained steady and there were 61 new entrants.

Dr Manning says there has been a positive response to the awards and the focus they place on the importance of claims. About 150 people attended the event last night.

“It really means a lot to claims professionals to get this recognition. It is their night of nights,” he said.

Category winners and finalists were:

Personal lines

Winner: QBE. Other finalists: Allianz, Budget Direct, Catholic Church Insurance, RACV, Suncorp.

SME Property and Casualty

Winner: Vero. Other finalists: Ansvar, Capricorn Mutual, Catholic Church Insurance, CGU, The Hollard Insurance Company, QBE.

Corporate Property and Casualty

Winner: Zurich. Other finalists: Liberty Specialty Markets, QBE, Vero.

Specialty

Winner: EBM Rent Cover and GT Insurance. Other finalists: FM Global/Affiliated FM, Interruption Underwriting Agencies (IUA), Millennium Underwriting Agencies, NTI.