The Australasian Life Underwriting and Claims Association has announced the contenders for its annual excellence awards across 10 categories.

“A high calibre of nominations was received from across the life insurance industry for exceptional work delivered throughout the 2023 calendar year, with all submissions judged by industry leaders from various disciplines,” the association said.

The winners will be announced on July 25 at Crown Sydney. The finalists by category are:

Leadership

Darren Leonard – MLC Life Insurance

Jayne Edwards – Zurich

Joan Xu – AIA Australia

Professional 

June Khaw – Hannover Re 

Summer Zhu – TAL Australia 

Torrent Woodard – MLC Life Insurance

Rising star 

Amy Lee – AIA Australia 

Christie Meyrick – MetLife Australia 

Sean Marais – Hannover Re

David Mico Industry Award 

Alan Tealby – MLC Life Insurance 

Lisa Gregory – Australian Retirement Trust 

Paul Bennell – TAL Australia 

Claims team 

Claims operations team – Hannover Re 

Hesta claims team – AIA Australia 

Retail and group, claims management team – MLC Life Insurance 

Underwriting team  

ClearView underwriting team – ClearView 

QInsure underwriting team – Australian Retirement Trust 

Zurich underwriting digital solutions team – Zurich

Customer service team 

AIA hesta claims team – AIA Australia/Hesta 

Retail and group mental health claims team – MLC Life Insurance

Innovation team 

Hannover Re Fortiro Protect team – Hannover Re 

MLC underwriting team – MLC Life Insurance 

RGA claims strategic solutions team – RGA 

Scor and Adviser Connect – Scor

Partnership impact team  

AIA/Hesta claims and rehabilitation – AIA Australia/Hesta 

Recovery and wellness – MLC Life Insurance/Swiss Re/Wysa 

Recovre SleepHealth program – Recovre/MetLife Australia

Best technology team 

AIA Australia and Hannover Re – AIA Australia/Hannover Re 

Recovery and wellness – MLC Life Insurance/Swiss Re