CGU National Liability Claims Manager Southern Julie Harriss is this year’s winner of the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance & Finance (ANZIIF) TurksLegal Claims Scholarship.

She has won an expenses-paid trip to attend a major industry conference in the US. She chose the 2012 Claims Conference & Insurance Services Expo in Orlando, Florida.

The runner-up for the scholarship was Renee Cassidy, Claims Manager at Whitbread Insurance Brokers.

Ms Harriss’ winning essay was on the topic of whether insurers should deal with claims on the basis of the spirit rather than the strict legal terms of the contract.

TurksLegal partner in charge of general insurance Paul Angus said Ms Harriss made a strong case for claims consultants to be comprehensively trained on the broader principles of insurance.

This would give them “the confidence to make the right claims decisions, based not just on technical indemnity arguments, but also on considerations such as policy intention, customer relationship management and commercial pragmatism”.

The judging panel was ANZIIF CEO Joan Fitzpatrick, Calliden CEO Nick Kirk, Lumley Insurance Head of Claims Andrew Farlow, CGU Technical Counsel Chris Rodd, Mr Angus and fellow TurksLegal general insurance partner Peter Riddell.