Nominations will open this week for the 2012 New Zealand Insurance Industry Awards.

The Insurance Brokers Association of New Zealand (IBANZ) and the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF) will host the awards.

Categories include direct insurance company of the year, intermediated insurance company of the year, life insurance company of the year, large broking company of the year, small/medium broking company of the year, claims service provider of the year and services provider of the year.

There are also awards for emerging young professional of the year, broking professional of the year, insurance leader of the year and lifetime achievement.

IBANZ CEO Gary Young says the awards highlight excellence in the industry.

“Given the challenging times New Zealand has had in the past year or so, the importance of excellence and professionalism has been highlighted by those challenges,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“We’re looking forward to an awards program that covers the whole of the insurance industry.”

Criteria and information will be available from the IBANZ and ANZIIF websites from this week.

The awards will be held on November 1 at the Pullman Hotel in Auckland.