Suncorp Commercial Insurance Graduate and Underwriter Darren Low has won the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF) TurksLegal Claims Scholarship.

He took the prize with an essay on the challenges facing insurers from “sharing economy” innovations such as Uber.

The runner-up was Queenscorp Insurance Services director Michael Parker, who submitted a piece on the affordability and effectiveness of natural disaster insurance.

“Both the winner and the runner-up entries were high-quality, fascinating reads,” TurksLegal General Insurance Partner and scholarship judge Paul Angus said.

“[Mr Low’s] paper tackled an emerging ‘hot topic’ for the insurance industry with a well-thought-out and practical approach.”

Mr Low wins a trip worth $8000 to next year’s Claims Conference & Insurance Services Expo in the US, or $5000 cash and registration to the Australian Institute of Chartered Loss Adjusters/ANZIIF Claims Convention in Australia next year, plus travel and accommodation.

Mr Parker receives free registration, travel and accommodation for the AICLA/ANZIIF Claims Convention.