Allianz has been crowned large general insurance company of the year for the third year in a row at the Australian Insurance Industry Awards.

The 15th annual awards, organised by the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance, were hosted in Sydney last Thursday.

“Winning this award three years in a row and eight out of the past 11 years shows us we’re on the right track in our drive to innovate our business by investing in our people and our service,” Allianz Australia MD Richard Feledy said.

NRMA Insurance was named direct general insurance company of the year, also completing a hat-trick, while Hobart-based RACT Insurance won best small/medium general insurance company.

Large broking company of the year was Marsh, with GSA Insurance Brokers taking the medium broker award and Simplex Insurance Solutions the small broker category.

Women’s employer of the year was TAL, for the second year running, while underwriting agency of the year was CHU, also for a second consecutive year.

Authorised representative of the year was Insurance Advisernet.

Tim Wedlock, National Insurance Brokers Association President and MD at Austbrokers AEI Transport, was named insurance leader of the year, while the lifetime achievement award went to former AAMI CEO Robert Belleville.

Fiona Fong from Marsh was named young insurance professional of the year.

Other category winners included:

• Service provider to the insurance industry: IVAA Jewellery Claim Management
• Professional services firm: Finity Consulting
• Young insurance professionals employer: Cunningham Lindsey – inTrust
• Insurance learning program: AMP Life
• Innovation: Gallagher Bassett
• Insurtech: Cover Genius
• Life insurance company: TAL.