Allianz awarded Best General Insurer 2007

29 October, 2007

Allianz is pleased to announce that it has been awarded Best General Insurer for the ‎second consecutive year at the Australian Banking & Finance Insurance Awards held ‎in Sydney. ‎

The category of Best General Insurance Product was won by NAB’s National Home ‎Insurance, which is underwritten by Allianz and recognises the strength of Allianz’s ‎business partnership with NAB, as well as the product itself.‎

Allianz’s award of Best General Insurer is complemented by a recognition of the ‎quality of Allianz’s home insurance products through the award of Best General ‎Insurance Product to NAB’s National Home Insurance, which is underwritten by ‎Allianz.

Accepting the award, Allianz Managing Director Mr Terry Towell said, “the focus on ‎delivering superior customer service by Allianz’s 3300 employees is responsible for ‎the company winning this award”. ‎

Mr Towell also thanked the readers of Australian Banking & Finance Magazine who ‎voted Allianz ‘Number One’. ‎

Mr Towell attributed the company’s market leading performance to Allianz’s attention ‎to its customers’ needs, from offering competitive pricing, to bringing new and ‎innovative products to the market, and Allianz’s no-fuss handling and paying of ‎claims.‎

Allianz regularly asks its customers one simple question – Would you recommend ‎Allianz to a friend or colleague? Each year, the company poses this question to ‎thousands of direct customers, claimants and business partners, with the resulting ‎feedback being used to guide continuous improvement in Allianz’s products and ‎processes.‎

Mr Towell stated that, “the insurance business is part of a fast-changing and dynamic ‎environment. Our customers know what they want and they also shop around. We ‎need to be proactive in meeting our customers’ needs and expectations, be it our ‎handling of claims arising from natural catastrophes, the delivery of complex ‎insurance requirements to large corporates, or adapting to changes to the day-to-day ‎purchasing preferences of consumers, such as buying insurance online.”‎

‎“It’s the feedback of our customers – positive and negative - and the passion of our ‎employees to deliver a positive customer experience every time, that helps us ‎continue to achieve our objective of providing first class customer service,” Mr Towell ‎said. ‎

Background ‎

Allianz Australia ‎
The Allianz Australia Group operates in Australia and New Zealand. It is one of ‎Australia’s largest general insurers, a leading private workers’ compensation insurer, ‎and more recently, a life insurer.‎

Allianz Australia delivers a wide range of personal, commercial and corporate ‎insurance products and services. AAL is proud to be of service to more than 2 million ‎policy holders and over 50% of Australia’s top 200 BRW listed companies have some ‎form of insurance cover with the group.‎

Allianz Australia offers a wide range of insurance products and services including car insurance, home insurance and Life insurance.

Allianz Australia has approximately 3300 staff. In 2006, the company achieved a ‎gross written premium exceeding AU$2.4 billion and investment assets of ‎approximately AU$5.5 billion. Allianz Australia Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of the ‎worldwide Allianz Group, one of the world’s largest financial services companies.‎

Australian Banking & Finance Insurance Awards ‎
The Australian Banking & Finance Insurance Awards are in their fifth year and ‎recognise and reward excellence, achievement and service to the sector, by ‎individuals and organisations, as awarded by their peers.‎

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Media Enquiries: ‎
Allianz Australia Insurance Limited ‎
Nicholas Scofield, (02) 9390 6596, 0416 088414‎
nicholas.scofield@allianz.com.au ‎

Australian Banking & Finance Insurance Awards ‎
Justine Charlton, 0416 079 788‎
justine@charlton.com.au