NIBA has named three finalists for its 2026 Claims Broker of the Year award, Jack O'Mahony of Lockton, Maree Solvyns of Gallagher and Robert Krleski of Marsh, an award that draws its evidential weight from NIBA's own client research showing 95% of clients view brokers as critical to claims resolution, landing at a moment when general insurance complaints have hit a multi-year high across the industry.

The award, now in its fourth year and supported by Sedgwick, is anchored in NIBA's February 2026 report Complexity to Clarity: The Broker Advantage, produced with Insurance Advisernet and CoreData. Beyond the headline 95% figure, the research found 98% of broker-supported claims were successfully resolved, 91% of clients said broker involvement led to a better outcome, and clients saved an average of 7.2 hours during the claims process specifically.

That data carries more weight set against the backdrop it lands in: general insurance complaints reached a multi-year high in 2024-25, putting claims handling under renewed scrutiny across the sector. The research does have limits worth noting for brokers citing it: the survey population is drawn from businesses that already use or have used a broker, meaning it cannot establish that broker-supported claims outperform directly handled ones, and the full sample size is not published on the report's public page.

NIBA CEO Richard Klipin said claims is "where the value of broking is felt most directly by clients," crediting each finalist for guiding clients through the process with skill and genuine care.

Sedgwick client director Colin McEnery said the standard of this year's applications "reflects the strength of the profession." The finalists' work spans client advocacy through complex disputes, proactive claims support, and innovation in claims handling following severe weather events, with the winner to be announced at the NIBA Convention on the Gold Coast from October 18 to 20.

For brokers, the citable statistics behind this award are worth having on hand for client conversations about claims value, though the honest caveat, that this is industry-commissioned research surveying broker-using clients rather than a like-for-like comparison against direct purchasers, is worth keeping in mind when using them.