A record 1,070-plus brokers rated insurer performance in the 2026 NIBA Broker Market Survey, producing nine finalists for this year's NIBA Insurer Awards.
The response is the highest in the survey's history, according to the National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA). The finalists span three categories: large general insurer, specialty insurer and underwriting agency.
The survey is run independently by NielsenIQ and covers brokers' assessments of general insurers and underwriting agencies across claims handling, underwriting expertise, product quality, service standards and overall broker experience. Its results determine the finalists and winners of the NIBA Insurer Awards, with the General Insurer of the Year award dating back more than two decades.
NielsenIQ director of brand and media Angela Carter said the finalists separated from the field on the measures brokers weight most. "Across an extremely competitive field, this year's finalists stood out in their respective categories on key indicators including trust, Net Promoter Score (NPS) and overall satisfaction. Brokers have recognised their engagement and the experience they deliver across their products, services, and offerings," Carter said.
Read next: Record broker participation puts insurer performance assessments in focus
The finalists for Large General Insurer of the Year are Chubb, Vero and Zurich. For Specialty Insurer of the Year, they are Berkley Insurance Australia, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance and Liberty. The Underwriting Agency of the Year finalists are DUAL Australia, Emergence Insurance and NTI.
NIBA CEO Richard Klipin said the awards serve a purpose beyond recognition. "NIBA is committed to strengthening professional relationships between brokers and insurers. The Insurer Awards benchmark and recognise the insurers and underwriting agencies that brokers rate most highly, and that are lifting professional standards to serve Australians better. I congratulate this year's finalists and wish them the best of luck ahead of the winner announcements," Klipin said.
Winners in all three categories will be announced at the 2026 NIBA Convention, held at RACV Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast from October 18 to 20.
The survey results arrive as claims performance dominates what brokers want from insurers. Insurance Business's own Brokers on Insurers 2026 report found that, for the first time in the available data, claims turnaround and new business turnaround have overtaken overall service level as the top two criteria brokers use to evaluate insurers. Commission structure ranked last for the third consecutive year.
Laura Meyer, director of MeyerInsure in Ballarat, Victoria, described the frustration behind that shift. "There are several insurers with claims turnaround times that are just abysmal. So you're spending long wait periods on phones to get things done and really it's caused by resourcing, from what I can tell and the conversations I have with claim handlers," Meyer said.
She said adding staff without fixing underlying systems does not solve the problem. "Bums on seats is just not enough. A lot of these insurers are still stuck on legacy systems and everything's just so difficult to do," Meyer said.
The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) recorded 119,949 complaints in 2025-26, the third consecutive year above 100,000, according to preliminary data released in August 2026. Delay in claim handling was the most complained-about issue across every financial product it handled. General insurance accounted for 36,022 complaints, up 5% on the prior year, and complaints about rejected insurance claims rose 47%.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has named insurance claims and complaints handling among its enforcement priorities for 2026. Deputy chair Sarah Court placed failures in this area alongside private credit misconduct, misleading pricing and financial reporting breaches as top-tier priorities.
"In the current environment, with premiums ever-increasing, claims rising, and insurance becoming increasingly out of reach, we will continue our focus on this sector. This year we will particularly look at claims and complaint handling failures," Court said.
Read next: NIBA names three claims finalists as complaints hit a record high
In August 2026, NIBA formed its first Claims Committee, drawing senior practitioners from Lockton, Gallagher, Marsh and Willis to give the profession a coordinated voice on claims issues with regulators and insurers. Its mandate covers identifying systemic claims problems and supporting NIBA's engagement with government and the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA).
NIBA's February 2026 consumer research, Complexity to Clarity: The Broker Advantage, produced with Insurance Advisernet and CoreData, found 95% of respondents see brokers as critical to resolving claims, and 98% reported their claims had been successfully resolved.
Australian brokers manage $35.6 billion in intermediated gross written premium, representing 46% of all general insurance written in Australia within a $77.9 billion market, according to NIBA's June 2026 report, Data to Direction: Insights from the General Insurance Broking Profession.
