Awards in 2008
January 2008: Zurich’s Life Insurance business in Ireland wins the Professional Insurance Brokers Association (PIBA) broker service excellence award for the fifth consecutive year. PIBA is the largest broker body in Ireland, with nearly 1,000 members, representing life and general insurance brokers.
February 2008: At the Welsh contact centre awards, our UK General business wins the best retention practice award for the way in which we engage and develop employees who work at the Cardiff contact centre.
March 2008: Readers of Reactions magazine, a leading monthly periodical for the global insurance and reinsurance industries, vote Zurich the top US primary insurer for 2007.
April 2008: In the UK, the Zurich Portfolio Planner is awarded an excellence rating by the Financial Technology Research Centre in association with Money Marketing magazine. The planner enables independent financial advisers to build and manage investment and pension portfolios for their customers by allowing them to identify attitudes to risk and financial goals, and then matching them to the correct product.
April 2008: Zurich is voted European Insurer of the Year by risk managers across Europe. The award is sponsored by Strategic Risk, a publication that covers key risk issues for the global business community. It comes on the heels of a Euromoney customer poll, in which Zurich is ranked second among global insurers and takes first place for both workers’ compensation and claims resolution in the regional votes for the US and Europe.
January 2007: Life risk advisers in Australia rank Zurich the number one life risk provider in the Australian market, making it the only provider to achieve such a ranking in three consecutive years. Zurich Australia is also the only company to receive a five-star rating from advisers for overall satisfaction for life risk in the WA Taylor Report for 2006. The views and preferences of more than 1,300 financial services intermediaries were compiled.
Awards in 2007
January 2007: Zurich’s top-selling Irish life product wins the Goldener Bulle award in Germany for the most innovative product out of 30 nominations. The product was the first life cover to be introduced in the German market with guaranteed premiums, and reflects Zurich’s transfer of best practice and innovation across its network.
February 2007: The internal consultant management team for Zurich’s UK Life operation wins the title of sales management team of the year in the UK National Sales Awards. Zurich is the only financial services company to win at the ceremony.
March 2007: Eagle Star Life, Zurich’s life business in Ireland, wins four titles at the 14th annual MoneyMate & Investor Magazine awards. The successes are best pension fund manager, best investment fund manager, best customer service and best insurance provider. MoneyMate is the leading source of market intelligence for the Irish asset management and banking communities.
May 2007: For the third year in succession, Zurich in Australia is ranked number one life insurance company in the W.A. Taylor Intermediary Study. Zurich is the only company to receive a five-star rating in both sections of the study: the client report, which included a selection of 216 advisers nominated by Zurich, and the industry report, which extended the total sample to all 1,321 intermediaries nominated by all study participants.
May 2007: The Trophy for General Insurance for Innovation 2007 in Belgium is awarded to Zurich Global Corporate Benelux for their Investment Structure Insurance Solutions (ISIS) product. Designed for all of Europe, this covers directors and officers and professional indemnity risk needs for investment fund activity and private equity. The main markets in Europe are Benelux, Switzerland and the UK.
May, 2007: Zurich Insurance Ireland Limited (Eagle Star) wins the non-life insurance excellence award at the third annual KPMG Financial Services Excellence Awards. Judges said the company is a proven success story, demonstrating excellence across the board by its consistent focus on product delivery, customer service and clever use of technology. At the same event, Eagle Star Life, Zurich’s Life business in Ireland, wins an innovation excellence award.
May 2007: Both the direct and broker versions of Zurich’s home solutions policies in the UK achieve a five-star rating in the 2007 Defaqto Home Insurance report. Defaqto is an independent financial data collection and research company that provides comprehensive and up-to-date product information for the financial services industry. Five stars means that our products are in the top 10 percent of policies in the market.
June 2007: Zurich UK Life’s Sterling brand is awarded five stars in the Investment Providers and Packagers category of the FT Adviser Online Service Awards 2007. Zurich picks up a four-star award in the life and pension providers category. The awards are voted for by independent financial advisers and mortgage advisers authorized by the Financial Services Authority.
August 2007: For the fourth year in succession, Zurich Japan is rated No. 1 in the Auto Insurance Customer Satisfaction Survey released by J.D. Power Asia Pacific. It also earns the top ranking for claims service satisfaction. More than 12,000 auto insurance policyholders responded to the survey.
November 2007: In the UK life business, Zurich Assurance and Sterling win coveted Five-Star Awards at the Financial Adviser Service awards, voted on by independent financial advisers. Sterling has maintained this award for six years running, and Zurich for three consecutive years.
Awards in 2006
April 2006: Zurich's Life operation in Ireland, Eagle Star Life, is named best investment manager and insurance provider of the year in the annual MoneyMate and Investor Magazine awards. The awards recognize those fund managers who have demonstrated the best risk-adjusted performance within their peer groups.
May 2006: Risk managers from companies throughout Europe vote Zurich European Business Insurer of the Year. The award, sponsored by Strategic Risk magazine, recognizes organizations that risk managers consider best in delivering exceptional value during the past year.
June 2006: Eagle Star, Zurich's life company in Ireland, wins the Life Insurance Excellence Award at the KPMG Financial Excellence Awards 2006. The awards cover core segments of the financial services industry and recognize excellence in market performance, innovation, customer service, employer of choice and corporate social responsibility.
June 2006: Zurich in Austria wins the Assekuranz Award Austria 2006 after a benchmark study on product and service quality of insurers, carried out by psychonomics AG, an important market research agency and consultant. Many independent insurance brokers were interviewed for the study.
July 2006: Zurich's campaign against schools arson in the UK is judged corporate and social responsibility project of the year in the British Insurance Awards. The "Arson Combated Together" (ACT) programme was developed by Zurich's Commercial and Municipal business unit to educate pupils and students about the dangers and consequences of arson.
August 2006: Zurich Japan’s Direct Auto operation obtains the top ranking for customer satisfaction in the J.D. Power, Inc (Asia Pacific) customer satisfaction survey 2006 for auto insurance. Seventeen companies were listed and a total of 13,831 people responded. Zurich was rated No.1 in the same survey in 2004 and 2005. J.D. Power, Inc. is an international organization specializing in research and consulting in the customer satisfaction area.
September 2006: Zurich UK Life's Sterling brand is voted best investment bond provider at the Investment, Life and Pensions Moneyfacts awards, for the second successive year. Awards are presented to recognize companies that have consistently offered the most competitive products, the best levels of service and shown the greatest innovation during the previous year.
November 2006: For the fourth year in succession, Eagle Star Life - Zurich's life company in Ireland - is voted the best service provider within Ireland's life insurance industry. The award is based on a survey conducted by the Professional Insurance Brokers Association, which has over 850 member firms.
November 2006: Sterling and Zurich in the UK life business are presented with five-star ratings at the Financial Adviser Service Awards, voted on by intermediaries throughout the country. Sterling maintains its award for the fifth year running, and Zurich for the second year in succession.
Awards in 2005
January: Zurich wins a prestigious annual competition to find and profile the best working environments within UK call centers, following the entry of the UK Personal Lines new contact center in Cardiff. The competition is run by Datapoint, a company which has 20 years' experience in call centers.
February: In the US, Farmers is identified by Equal Opportunity magazine as one of the top 50 employers to work for. The ranking is based on a survey which asked readers to name the employers for whom they would most like to work, or the organizations they believed would provide a positive working environment for members of minority groups.
March: The Sterling Bond, a Zurich brand in the UK, is voted best investment bond at the 2005 Moneyfacts awards in London. The Moneyfacts Group is the largest personal finance data publisher in the UK, and monitors thousands of savings, mortgage, credit card, personal loan and other personal finance products available in the UK.
June: For the fourth year in succession, Zurich Emerging Markets Solutions is voted best private insurer by the readers of Trade Finance magazine. This US-based team focuses on delivering high technical expertise, innovation and risk management services to customers in North America, Europe and Asia.
June: Farmers is named one of America’s top family-friendly companies for Hispanics by Vista magazine, which targets the Hispanic community. The magazine calls attention to Farmers’ support of many programs that benefit Hispanic employees and other nationalities that comprise the company’s diverse employee population.
July: Zurich Insurance Taiwan wins the award for best general insurance representative office at the annual Faith, Hope and Love insurance awards. This major industry event is sponsored by the non-profit Risk Management and Insurance Business and Educational Foundation and co-sponsored by insurance departments from colleges and universities across Taiwan.
July: Zurich's life business in Ireland, Eagle Star Life, wins the investment management excellence award at Ireland's first financial services excellence awards organized by KPMG.
August: For the second year in succession, Zurich in Japan is ranked top in the auto insurance customer satisfaction survey by J.D. Power, an international research and consulting company. More than 12,000 consumers give feedback, and out of 17 companies, Zurich comes first for claims service and customer satisfaction.
September: In the UK, Zurich won the coveted title of Insurance Company of the Year at the Bodyshop Industry Awards in London. The award, sponsored by Bodyshop magazine, judges how companies work with the auto repair industry to provide a high level of service to motor claims customers.
October: The Finnish Association of Insurance Brokers awards Zurich Finland the Insurance Company of the Year distinction. A survey by the association analyzed all the business providers serving the Finnish non-life market in the following areas: speed of service, willingness to solve problems, professionalism, innovation, brokerage, quality of operation, and attitude.
November: Sterling and Zurich Assurance in the UK Life business both win a five-star rating in the annual Financial Adviser service awards, voted on by financial advisers throughout the country. For Sterling, the accolade is awarded for the fourth year in succession. In its second year of trading, Zurich Assurance improves on last year's four-star award.
December: Zurich's General Insurance business in the UK is voted commercial insurer of the year at the Insurance Times awards, one of the biggest industry events in the UK.
December: For the third year in succession, Eagle Star Life - Zurich's life company in Ireland - wins the Professional Insurance Brokers Association (PIBA) broker service award of excellence. PIBA is the largest representative body for insurance brokers in Ireland.
