The Mansfield Awards play a vital role in recognising excellence in claims, one of this year’s winners says.

As reported by insuranceNEWS.com.au, Vero took out the overall Gold Mansfield Award at an online presentation ceremony last week.

Category winners were Allianz (personal lines), HCi (SME property and casualty), FM Global (corporate property and casualty) and GT Insurance (specialty).

FM Global led the way in the corporate property and casualty sector for the third year running and VP – Operations Claims Manager Andrea Garske told insuranceNEWS.com.au the latest accolade “shows we are consistently doing a good job”.

She says the importance of claims cannot be underestimated, and the Mansfield Awards “fill a big gap” in recognising teams’ efforts.

“It’s helping to raise the profile of claims and encouraging people to understand that you need to think about the quality of the service you will get when the rubber hits the road, and not just the premium cost,” she said.

“When that claim happens, it’s when clients find out if they bought a good policy or a not so good one. It is make or break.”

Vero says it has been working for more than two years to “deliver best ever claims service”.

EGM Claims at Suncorp Michael Miller told insuranceNEWS.com.au there are three parts to the Vero claims promise – expertise, service and culture.

“I can’t underscore enough how important culture is,” he said. “Our job is to absolutely pay out within the terms of the agreement. We need to look at each case individually, but with an overlay of fairness and compassion.”

Allianz Australia won the personal lines category for the second year running and Chief Customer Services Officer Brendan Dunne says to be recognised by industry stakeholders is “a privilege”.

“This recognition is testament to our Allianz claims team and their expert and empathetic claims-handling,” he said.

“The Australian bushfires and other severe weather events, along with the global COVID-19 pandemic, have had a significant impact on our customers, and our claims team has worked tirelessly to support our customers.”

Hollard Commercial Insurance (HCi) took out the SME property and casualty award, and Interim CEO Jack Joubert says he’s proud of his claims team’s response during “a very turbulent year”.

“To be recognised for our claims service under these conditions is a real highlight of our journey so far,” he said

GT Insurance won the specialty category, and CEO Tony Dodd says the company recognises the “vital role” played by brokers.

“To be recognised through the Mansfield Awards is a great honour as it is judged by brokers themselves,” he said. “We are committed to continually improving and ensuring better outcomes for our customers.”

The awards, named after the English Lord Chief Justice who introduced the concept of utmost good faith to the insurance process in 1766, were founded and are organised by Insurance News and LMI Group.

More than 2300 survey responses were received ahead of this year’s awards as part of the adjudication process. Unlike most awards focused on the insurance industry, companies and individuals are not invited to make submissions.

NSW state insurer icare and Steadfast have sponsored the event each year since it was launched in 2017.

Click here to see the full list of winners and finalists.