2026 Categories

PROVIDER CATEGORIES

Outstanding Intermediary Support Team

Intermediaries are the first point of contact for many clients. Providers who engage with the adviser market to improve knowledge and highlight protection for market growth will be recognised in this category.

This category will decide which team within a protection insurer provider has excelled in offering the best overall support to intermediaries to get clients the best possible service and outcomes.

Outstanding Marketing Team

Protection promotion has become a critical part of the overall proposition and marketing plays a key role in getting the message across to consumers.

Which insurance provider has the best marketing team that consistently puts the customer at the heart of their messaging?

Outstanding Claims Management Team

A claim is the critical deliverable for protection products, consumers and advisers rely on providers to be able to process claims in a timely fashion and with a high degree of accuracy.

This category will judge which provider is providing the best level of service at point of claim and is able to handle claims efficiently and provide the best consumer outcomes.

Outstanding Underwriting Team

Underwriting practises must always evolve to keep pace with changing consumer behaviours and needs, particularly in a fast-moving economically challenged and health-focused world. A renewed focus on vulnerable customers and service-levels means timely and accurate underwriting has never been more important. Which team within an insurance provider is adapting its underwriting approach to ensure more people can get the right cover?

Outstanding Business Development Team

The protection and health market is increasingly competitive, with established insurers and up-and-coming providers vying for market share. In this landscape, business development is crucial to standing out from the crowd. Which business development team embodies the ideals of exceptional customer care?

Outstanding Case Study Success

Case studies are an opportunity for protection and health insurance providers to demonstrate how their offering, from underwriting right through to claim pay outs, serves their customers and serves as a benchmark for industry excellence. Which provider is able to demonstrate outstanding service and results for clients?

Customer Service: ‘Above and Beyond’

Working towards achieving good customer outcomes involves more than a great product, how teams interact with consumers at the point of claim and beyond makes all the difference. Which insurance provider offers customer care and support that truly makes a difference to advisers and their clients, going the extra mile to ensure that customers are receiving the best possible experience from protection and health cover?

Outstanding Use of Technology

Technology has become an intrinsic part of protection and health insurance offerings, from data to communications channels. The way the industry interacts with clients is becoming increasingly digital.

Which protection and health insurance provider has adopted technology to improve their operations relating to how customers are treated?

Outstanding Added-Value Customer Service (Third Party)

Value added benefits have quickly become a key component of the overall protection and health insurance proposition and in many cases, a differentiator. Value add services are key to supporting clients’ health and wellbeing needs – the right partnerships are essential. Which third party provider offers the best service to customers and is most useful to advisers as well as the end customer?

Outstanding New Partnership

Which collaboration has furthered the offering of a protection and health insurance provider to new heights of customer care excellence? We are looking for new partnerships or collaborations between insurance providers and firms such as support or service providers, technology specialists or networks that can clearly demonstrate a positive impact for customer outcomes. This category is open to partnerships launched in the last 18 months, from August 2024.

Best Wellbeing Support Service

Insurance providers are increasingly responsible for support not just physical health, but mental health. With younger generations and employers keenly aware of the impact of poor mental wellbeing – insurers look to invest in support services for their clients. Which insurer provides the best wellbeing support service for either its individual or group customers. This could be in the form of a partnership with a third-party provider or support services built-into new or existing products. Examples of wellbeing support include: therapy, counselling, pathways, rehabilitation and signposting through corporate schemes, as well as technology and EAP solutions.

Best Health and Wellness Offering

This category is open to insurers and third party providers who are providing healthcare and wellness products for the group and individual markets.

Preventative health is a key success factor for the nation’s healthcare goals, providers investing in this space should highlight their successes. This could be through the implementation of an EAP, health plans, mental health screenings or numerous other avenues.

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

Outstanding Protection and Health Leader

This award highlights someone who is leading key change in the market, be it on the government level, within their own organisation or alongside industry associations and action groups. Are you or someone you know an insurance leading who is fostering innovation and change over the last 12 months?

Intermediary Support Champion

Which individual within an insurance provider offers the truly outstanding support to advisers? This category highlights the support services provided by insurers to intermediaries, be they on the technical side or those who are in the market educating advisers on product knowledge.

Customer Care Champion

The protection and health insurance industry boasts a huge cadre of talent impacting the sector in many different ways.

This category seeks to award the person who is exemplar of the ideals of customer care and is the gold standard in our industry.

*NEW* Insurance Rising Star of the Year

The protection and health industry thrives on its level of expertise and talent, with new faces and rising through the ranks of insurers and third parties on a consistent basis.

Who has stepped up in the last 12 months? It could be someone in a new role taking on more responsibility, or someone who has taken the limelight at external events. This category aims to reward an insurance professional who has raised their game in the last year.

There are no restrictions on age or time in the industry for this category.