The Australasian Life Underwriting and Claims Association (ALUCA) has released the shortlist of contenders in the running for its annual excellence awards.

ALUCA added a new category this year, Sustainability Team Award, to recognise life insurance teams that are setting new standards in life insurance sustainability to ensure the ongoing viability of the industry.

All winners will be announced on June 16 at ALUCA’s awards night in Sydney, except for the Life Award category, which will be revealed at the May 19-21 Biennial conference in the Gold Coast.

Here are the finalists:

• Leadership Award – Chantelle Everett (TAL), Matthew Hardy (AIA Australia), Rebeka Kendall (TAL)
• Professional Award – Carmen Choo (AIA Australia), Stephen Szabo (TAL), Victor Tran (MetLife Australia)
• Rehabilitation Award – Tricia Anderson (QSuper), Alicia Gibbs (Zurich), June Khaw (Hannover Re)
• Rising Star Award – Adrian Argall (MetLife Australia), Nicholas Laurie (MetLife Australia), Adora Tran (MLC Life Insurance), Michelle D’Souza (AIA Australia)
• David Mico Education Award – Mervyn Lam (AIA Australia), John O’Leary (TAL)
• Underwriting Team Award – AIA Retail Underwriting Team (AIA Australia), MetLife Underwriting Team (MetLife Australia), TAL Underwriting Quality and Training Team (TAL), Zurich Group Underwriting Team (Zurich)
• Claims Team Award – MetLife Claims Continuous Improvement Team (MetLife Australia) TAL Rest Claims Team (TAL), QInsure Claims Management Team (QSuper), QInsure Learning & Development Team (QSuper)
• Customer Service Team Award – BT Life Insurance and Guardian Exercise Rehabilitation (Guardian & BT Life), Medilaw Group National Account Management Team (Medilaw Group), Strategy and Recovery Team (MetLife Australia)
• Innovation Team Award – Innovation Group Claims Team (MLC Life Insurance), MetLife 360Health Virtual Care (MetLife Australia), Shared Value Team & Rehab Team in partnership with CancerAid (AIA Australia), TAL Claims Risk & Governance (TAL)
• Sustainability Team Award – IDII Sustainability Team: TAL, Scor, Swiss Re, Zurich, RGA, Cogent, ML Forensics, Cigna
• HERO Award – Shane Burdack (Swiss Re, Member of ALUCA IDII working group and ALUCA Education group), Lucy Hartley (Swiss Re, Chair of ALUCA Rehab group), Eimear Smith (Scor, Member of IDII working group and ALUCA conference group).