Fiona Fong, a Senior Claims Consultant with Marsh, has won this year’s Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF) TurksLegal Claims Scholarship.

Her winning paper examined whether insurers are ready to handle cyber claims.

The runner-up prize went to Richard Oliver Underwriting Managers Account Executive Krishna Venkata, who submitted an essay on automation.

“It is very pleasing to see continued interest in the discussion of ideas around the ever-changing issues facing claims professionals in Australia,” TurksLegal General Insurance Partner and scholarship judge Paul Angus said.

“The winning paper and the runner-up tackled topics in the form of cyber claims and automation that weren’t really even on the radar when we started the scholarship in 2008, but are [now] key issues facing the industry.”

Ms Fong wins a trip to the Claims Conference and Insurance Services Expo in the US next year, valued at up to $8000. Or she can choose $5000 cash and registration for next year’s ANZIIF Claims Convention in Australia.