CGU has won the National Insurance Brokers Association’s (NIBA) 2015 general insurer of the year award.

The Melbourne-based IAG subsidiary triumphed over QBE in second place and Allianz in third.

IAG Commercial CEO Ben Bessell says he is “proud and honoured” to have CGU win the award after taking third place behind Zurich and QBE last year.

“Our business is built around our partnerships with brokers and we place great value on the recognition we receive from them,” he said.

“To win this award is particularly rewarding in a year where we’ve experienced challenging market conditions, heavily invested in setting ourselves up for the future and brought the best of both Lumley and CGU into our business.”

It was CGU’s first win since the award was inaugurated in 1998. Previous winners are Lumley in 2001, QBE 2002-12, and Zurich 2013-14. Zurich was not a finalist for the award this year.

The general insurer award this year was voted on by more than 1100 NIBA member brokers who rated insurers’ products and services as part of the association’s annual survey.