Protection Guru has announced the winners of its Protection Guru Awards 2024.
Now in its fourth year, the awards recognise significant contributions to the protection industry, particularly following the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The awards celebrated the dedication of advisers and insurers over the past eighteen months and are divided into four categories: Individual Adviser Awards, Adviser Firm Awards, Insurer Awards, and Prestige Awards.
This year, a Tech Awards category was added to acknowledge innovations in technology that facilitate protection conversations.
The Insurer Awards category received votes from Protection Guru users, while the Individual and Adviser Firm Awards acknowledged those who have excelled in client support during the claims process and increased awareness of protection solutions.
Ian McKenna, founder and CEO of Protection Guru, said: “Now in its fourth year, the Protection Guru Awards are an opportunity to celebrate those who have gone above and beyond in the protection industry whether that’s delivering the best protection outcomes for people, demonstrating the best innovation, providing the most impactful changes for advice firms, and more.
“With the FCA’s recent announcement of a study into the pure protection market, it’s now more important than ever to showcase instances where an excellent standard has been set.”
He added: “Many of the submissions were truly inspiring and we thank everyone who made a submission to this year’s awards.
“A huge congratulations to those who were both nominated, highly commended and awarded this year.”
The winners of the Protection Guru Awards 2024 include Anna Gustyn from Umbrella Protect for Best Claim Case Study by an Adviser, Kelly Walton from Protex Financial for Best Use of Video Social Media by an Adviser, Gary Green from Cotswold Mortgage Solutions for Best Use of Static Social Media by an Adviser, Orianne Williamson from LifeSearch for Outstanding New Protection Adviser, Kathleen Moralee from Futureproof for Best Protection Administrator/Support Staff, and Lewis Breach from Futureproof for Outstanding Training & Development Leader.
In the Adviser Firm Awards, The Openwork Partnership won for Best Marketing of Protection from an Advice Firm, Sesame was recognised as Best Network, London & Country took home the award for Best Protection Support Group/Compliance Service, Create Finance was awarded Best Protection Advice from a Mortgage Brokerage, Protect365 won for Best Innovation from an Advice Firm, LifeSearch received the award for Best Training Initiative, and Futureproof was named Protection Advice Firm of the Year.
In the Insurer Awards category, Jordan Clark from Guardian won for Best Use of Social Media from a BDM, and The Exeter was recognised for Best Claim Video from an Insurer.
Vitality was named Best Insurer for Protecting a Mortgaged Client, while Guardian won for Best Insurer for Protecting a Client’s Family.
Royal London received recognition as the Best Insurer for Protecting the Income of People with Standard Occupations, and The Exeter took home the award for Best Insurer for Protecting the Income of People with Higher Risk Occupations.
Legal & General won for Best Insurer for Protecting Business Owners, and Guardian was awarded Best Insurer for Protecting Hard to Cover Clients.
Finally, Guardian received the award for Best Support Service, and Royal London was recognised as the Best Insurer for Keeping Clients Protected.
In the Prestige Awards, Emma Astley from CoverMyBubble was honoured with The Above and Beyond Award, HSBC Life received recognition for Outstanding Performance in Claims Handling, Zurich Accelerate was awarded Protection Guru’s Doctors Award, Scott Taylor-Barr was named Outstanding Protection Adviser of the Year, and Emma Thomson received the Dedication to Protection Award.
