AXA Insurance is delighted to sponsor the 2009 Broker/Intermediary Innovation of the year award. The Broker/Intermediary Innovation award provides a showcase for original and creative ideas that demonstrate improved business practices, commercial performance or customer experience.

Customer centricity is a top priority for AXA and we are proud to be associated with an award which highlights the ways in which brokers are responding to their customers and tailoring products and services to meet their needs.

Anthony Middle
Managing Director, Commercial Lines

Climbing a career ladder isn´t easy... not always one rung at a time... and right now has it ever been tougher? Sometimes it can be about ‘right time, right place’. Some of the time it´s about seeing a niche, spotting an opening and seizing the opportunity to push yourself forward. It´s definitely about hard work, looking ahead, making your mark, picking your moment, knowledge building, relationships, delivery... I could go on.

Being a member of the IT Pack may open the door to finding out more.

Finding out more about the insurance business - different perspectives; more about those who have climbed a couple of rungs

IT Pack members have been recognised by their peers as the future stars of this industry and we hope that in some small way the IT Pack experience will inspire all those taking part to even greater heights. Who knows.

Good luck and I look forward to seeing some of you along the way.

John Kitson
Sales & Marketing Director, Aviva

"As part of its ongoing commitment to the channel, Fortis is proud to sponsor the excellence that can be seen in the Personal Lines Broker of the Year category. This award represents the continued strength and drive that personal lines brokers deliver when facing the wide and varied challenges in the market place and deserve the recognition for their contribution to the market.

“We remain impressed by the enthusiasm and in-depth knowledge that brokers have of their customers' needs, providing a platform in which to build strong relationships, in spite of the challenging market conditions. The really successful brokers will be those who continue to hold the customer central in their strategy, maintaining the advantage of their personalised service, independence and ability to adapt their business models to grasp new opportunities within the market."

Talent&Pro are proud to sponsor the “New Achiever of the Year Award” again in 2009. At Talent&Pro our mission is to develop people for the Financial Industry. Our people are permanently monitored by a People Manager who helps them optimise their abilities, capacities and skill-sets in line with the job requirements and long term development goals. As a result, we can offer our clients a diverse group of highly motivated and enthusiastic staff with the right skill-set and relevant educational background.

Sponsoring this award is close to the heart of Talent&Pro. Rewarding the New Achiever of the year for the 2009 Insurance Times Awards is recognition of that individual’s determination and response to a rapidly changing environment in the insurance market. Talent&Pro is delighted to be associated with an award which is at the core of what we do best. Helping our clients maintain operations and develop new business opportunities while helping our people develop themselves for the financial market.

We wish all candidates the best of luck in this category and look forward to presenting the award at the end of the year.

Equity Red Star, the largest personal lines syndicate at Lloyd’s, is the UK’s 5th largest motor insurer, and has been providing insurance to business and personal lines customers for the past 60 years.

We have a diverse and broad based book, including private car, classic car, vans, motorcycle, taxis, minibus, fleet, haulage, agricultural vehicles, motor breakdown, household and personal accident.

We are widely recognised as a benchmark for:

• Service delivery
• Technical expertise
• Claims management
• Underwriting excellence

Delivering quality insurance for 60 years

“LV= Broker is delighted to be sponsoring the Independent Regional Broker of the Year in the Insurance Times awards. This is a great opportunity for regional brokers to showcase their businesses. We believe regional brokers are fantastically placed to serve their customers and understand the unique needs of the area they are based in. LV= has set up a network of UK wide offices that work closely with brokers all over the country to ensure we can provide our regional brokers with a fast and efficient service. Good luck to everyone entering.”

Phil Bunker,
Managing Director of LV= Broker

As the premier financial services professional body, the CII promotes higher standards of integrity, technical competence and business capability.

With over 93,000 members in more than 150 countries, the CII is the world’s largest professional body dedicated to this sector.

Membership of the CII signals a desire to develop broad professional capability and subscribe to the standards associated with professional status.

The CII works with businesses to develop bespoke solutions that ensure competitive advantage by enhancing employees’ technical and professional competence.

Individually, CII’s members are able to drive their personal development and maintain their professional standing through an unrivalled range of learning services and by adhering to the CII’s Code of Ethics.

www.cii.co.uk

Home & Legacy has specialised in providing high value homeowners with quality insurance advice and first class service since 1995. We have become recognised as one of the premier insurance facilitator in providing leading buildings, contents and motor insurance. As a testament to our capability, our Prestige Home policy has been awarded Five Stars and Ultra Home policy has been awarded Premier by Defaqto, in acknowledgment of the exceptional cover we offer our customers.

Home & Legacy is a specialist insurance provider

• Experts in insuring high value homes, contents and vehicles
• Awarded Five Stars and Premier rating by Defaqto
• Underwritten by a panel of six of the UK's leading insurers ensuring that prices stay competitive
• Personal service from specialist advisers
• Cover your unusual and/or high value possessions
• Get extra services like Homesitter and a free bottle of SmartWater, a new innovation in theft prevention.
• Added benefits for policyholders:
• SmartWater theft prevention system automatically included with all policies
• Access to Homesitters service available at discounted rates

To get in touch with one of our specialist advisors, please telephone 0844 893 8360

The insurance industry faces more challenges than ever before. The growth of the internet, multi-channel distribution, changing customer demands, industry consolidation & regulation have all challenged traditional business models & IT strategies.

The insurer that stands still will get left behind. But all too often ageing & inflexible IT systems constrain innovation, limiting the ability to launch new products quickly & enter new distribution channels.

At SSP, we offer insurance software, together with expert advice, based on many years’ experience in the insurance industry. We’re helping our clients respond to market changes, keep a competitive edge, & above all, turn challenge into opportunity.

The XL Insurance companies help industrial and commercial businesses manage their risks through comprehensive, cost-effective and integrated solutions. Through a substantial global network we combine local knowledge and service with international underwriting expertise, but we also apply our experience to the middle market and regional businesses, offering local insurance solutions for a variety of industries.

We offer commercial property/casualty insurance, professional liability, fine art and specie, environmental, marine, energy and aerospace cover. Dedicated client relationship managers work with underwriters to create tailored solutions. We are also active in the Lloyd’s market through XL London Market Ltd, the managing agents of Syndicate 1209.

All XL Insurance companies are backed by strong financial ratings. XL Capital Ltd, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, is one of the world's largest providers of insurance and reinsurance products.

We are delighted to sponsor the Loss Adjuster of the Year category.

Rok provides a market leading claims management and building repair services to our insurance customers offering efficiency and outstanding service to the insurer and policyholder alike. With over 3,000 technicians nationwide, we believe our self delivery teams are without equal.

By combining extensive experience of insurance claims handling with our own technicians working in their local communities we offer a complete service delivering a great customer journey by:

• Initial screening that identifies high risk claims and uninsured damage
• Independent inspection by our team of trained Building Engineers to determine the extent of cover, scope of work and control fraud
• Digital technology that captures data onsite and then uploads it immediately to our claims system via GPRS.
• Repairs by our own directly employed technicians from one of our 60 plus offices throughout the UK
• People and processes fully compliant with all Financial Services Authority Regulations including Insurance Conduct of Business and Treating Customers Fairly
• Commitment to Safety, Health and Environment backed by British Safety Council Standards
• Enhanced transparency of costs and performance combined with a reduced claim lifecycle
• Communication with policyholders by their choice of telephone, email or SMS
• Quality of service assured through continued training and development
• Focus on protecting the environment and working with our insurance customers to support their own Corporate and Social Responsibility policies

We ensure each repair is delivered to promised timescales and we're so confident in the quality of repairs carried out by our technicians that we offer a market leading Three Year Quality Assurance Guarantee on every repair we do.

For all insurance providers, customer service is a critical aspect of the business. For Legal & General this is an area of constant focus and one we are always looking to develop and improve. The challenge is to correctly balance the competing demands of high service standards and process efficiencies.

In 2009 Legal & General have continued to invest in new initiatives to drive ever better service. Our cutting edge, online point-of-sale business system, OLP Connect is the first in the market to offer a ‘one stop’solution for advisers to support both their customers’ household insurance and protection needs. As well as making it easier for advisers to widen the type of business they write, it also frees up their time to take up new business opportunities. At a time when customers are reviewing their household budgets and ways to save money, access to the OLP Connect service is very timely support for advisers to help customers with their household insurance needs.

Following a comprehensive review of the way in which household insurance claims are managed, Legal & General decided to work closely with one of our existing suppliers, Merlin, to deliver a more efficient and cost-effective claims management service to our customers. Legal & General and Merlin Claims, now work together to support customers throughout their claim, from the minute they notify Legal & General. Working in this smarter way, customers’ claims are validated more quickly and resolutions are delivered more promptly.

We are proud to be associated with an award which highlights the important role service providers play in helping the industry respond to our customers needs by improving the service we deliver.

Phil Kennedy
Business Development Director

Crawford & Company, based in Atlanta Georgia, is the world's largest independent provider of claims management solutions to the risk management and insurance industry as well as self-insured entities, with a global network of more than 700 locations in 63 countries.

On 1st September 2009, Crawford launched, The Crawford System of Claims SolutionsSM the most comprehensive global, integrated solution for all brokers, corporate, insurer and re-insurer claims administration. Crawford is a global provider of comprehensive integrated claim services, business process outsourcing (BPO) via Third Party Administration (TPA) and consulting services. Defining our solutions in this unique way is a major transformation which clarifies and simplifies our many capabilities and service offerings, making it easier to do business with Crawford.

The Crawford System of Claims SolutionsSM (www.thecrawfordsystem.com) encompasses all of Crawford’s service lines under just three distinctive areas:

1. Claim Services - delivers the broadest array of task and tactical claims solutions. We can configure these solutions exactly to your organisation’s local and global demands.
2. Business Process Outsourcing - delivers all aspects of claims management offering a viable and effective option to achieving business benefits.
3. Consulting - Crawford’s broad intellectual capital leveraged to provide high-level analysis and value-added insights to your businesses.

Crawford is recognised as the world's leading provider of custom claims solutions, this is the core of our business and, as such, we are delighted to sponsor the Claims Initiative of the Year category. This award rightly focuses on improving service delivery and customer benefits; areas of great importance to Crawford. We would like to wish all entrants the best of luck.

Clive Nicholls
Vice President, Global Markets
Crawford & Company

www.crawfordandcompany.com

Winn Solicitors Ltd provides a specialist ‘one stop shop’ accident management service to brokers and their customers in relation to Road Traffic Accidents.

A high quality service is at the forefront of our offerings, which is actively supported by our in-house solicitors who can advise and assist to resolve any legal issues at an early stage.

We aim to provide the best outsourced claims service in the market, our one stop shop theme ensures that the customer is dealing with the same people throughout their claim and not several different providers, meaning the broker knows their customer is always in our safe hands. This avoids confusion on the customer’s behalf and as we are dealing with all aspects of the claim from start to finish it allows us to mitigate the costs of the claim as best as possible.

Winn Solicitors is delighted to be sponsoring the E-Business Award in the Insurance Times awards.