Dr Allan Manning was recognised last night by the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF) with the Lifetime Achievement Award in front of 840 industry representatives at the 9th Annual Australian Insurance Industry Awards, held at the Darling Habour Convention Centre, Sydney.

The award recognises those individuals within the insurance industry who have significantly contributed toward advancing, promoting and improving the standing and development of the insurance industry in Australia over the span of their careers. Unlike other awards where the decision is made by a judging panel, here the final decision as to who received the award was voted upon by all senior members of the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (“ANZIIF”). LMI is delighted that our managing director Professor Allan Manning was voted the inaugural winner of this prestigious award.

Dr Manning, who is also international president of the International Institute of Claims Preparers, is a worthy recipient of the award, with nearly 42 distinguished years of service to the industry.   Dr Manning is an authority on large and complex losses and he routinely appears as an expert witness.  He has made submissions to numerous enquiries, including the ACCC on a standard definition for flood, the National Disaster Insurance Review, and the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission.  His work with government, claims, policy drafting and design, lobbying, education and innovation have led to his inclusion in the last two years in the InsuranceNews list of the top 20 most influential people in insurance in Australia and New Zealand.  It is estimated that over 30% of all businesses in Australia are insured under a policy either drafted or reviewed by Dr Manning.

Dr Manning is the founder and Managing Director of the LMI Group, which has delivered a range of innovative and award-winning products and services to the Australian insurance industry, including PolicyComparison, a web-based training and comparative tool showing the features and benefits of over 3,000 current policies; BIcalculator, a website designed to explain and calculate adequate cover for business interruption insurance; RiskCoach, an expert system on risk and insurance; PolicyCoach, which assists with policy drafting; and the business continuity management system, ContinuityCoach.com.  In 2010, LMI received the ANZIIF Insurance industry “Innovation of the Year” award for these products.

Dr Manning has lectured at the University of Melbourne, RMIT and Victoria University, has written industry courses and served as an examiner for both the ANZIIF and the Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters. He holds the post of Adjunct Professor with Victoria University in the faculty of Business and Law and is the course director of the Master of Insurance Law and Practice degree.  He is the author of 9 books on general insurance, which are utilised worldwide, and has delivered over 950 papers at conferences, seminars and professional development days, both internationally and locally, including the very popular ISR Master Class program for the ANZIIF.  He has, in addition, assembled one of the largest libraries on insurance in Australasia, which he shares with the entire insurance community.

Dr Manning is a passionate advocate for the insurance industry and has on many occasions appeared on television and radio to promote the industry in a positive light, never more important than after the 2011 Brisbane floods.