A new award recognising excellence in claims is being launched this year, using independent industry data and broker feedback.

Organised by insuranceNEWS.com.au and claims services group LMI Group, the new award will commemorate the memory of British Lord Chief Justice Lord Mansfield, who introduced the insurance industry to the principle of utmost good faith more than 250 years ago.

The Mansfield Award will be presented at a function in Sydney in July, at which Individual awards to insurance companies will also be made in personal lines, SME property and casualty, corporate property and casualty, and specialty.

Using data collated and “weighted” by LMI Group to ensure all companies’ results are equalised, the major Mansfield Award will go to the insurance company that has performed best in such areas as speed of service, proactivity, accuracy and fairness.

LMI Group MD Allan Manning says the emphasis of the awards is “purely on claims excellence and nothing else”.

“We want to help change the perception that claims is a complex and unwieldy process,” he said. “Critical articles about insurance almost always highlight a claim that has gone wrong. But such articles lead to widespread negative perceptions about insurers in particular and claims in general.”

Insurance News Publisher Terry McMullan says the decision to set up the award program with LMI Group arose from disappointment that no national award for claims excellence existed.

“There’s an award for just about everything except the most important part of the whole insurance process,” he said. “The claim, and how well it is handled by the insurer, is the fulfillment of the insurance contract.”

He says the organisers intend to seek sponsors for the event to cover costs, with any excess money going to a charity.