NEOS, TAL honoured at Life Insurance Awards

The insurers were recognised for excellence in adviser service and product innovation.

At an event in Sydney last night, NEOS took home the 2026 Life Insurance Award for Excellence in Adviser Service, presented by Financial Standard.

NEOS was selected as the winner following an online survey of financial advisers, licensees and support staff, rating insurers across various service parameters that can critically affect their business. This includes underwriting and new business, claims service and business support.

It's the second year running that NEOS has taken home the honour.

NEOS chief executive John de Zwart said the insurer is incredibly proud to receive the award again.

"It's a powerful endorsement from advisers that our focus on service, underwriting expertise and platform efficiency is delivering real value and continues to make a meaningful difference in their day-to-day businesses," he said.

"Everything we do is centred on making adviser's lives easy - helping them spend less time on administration and more time with their clients."

Meantime, TAL received the 2026 Life Insurance Award for Innovation in Product, recognised for its TPD Support Option.

The TPD Support Option was developed to support customers with complex mental health, chronic fatigue and functional conditions while maintaining long-term product sustainability. Customers can receive up to 20% of their sum insured each year for claims involving conditions where recovery outcomes can vary, provided they continue to meet the 'Any Occupation' criteria.

In accepting the award, TAL chief executive, individual life Gavin Teichner said the group was honoured to receive the recognition.

"Life insurance exists to support people through their hardest moments, and for too long the structure of traditional TPD wasn't serving everyone it needed to. This award reflects the work of a lot of people - customers, advisers, clinicians and our team - who helped us understand the problem deeply so we could build something genuinely different," he said.

TAL chief medical officer Summer Zhu added: "For conditions like mental health disorders, chronic fatigue and functional illness, asking a treating doctor to confirm that a patient will never recover can put the treating relationship at odds with the claims process at exactly the moment when hope and support matter most. The TPD Support Option changes that dynamic - and that's meaningful, not just for customers, but for the clinicians supporting them."

"Recovery for these conditions doesn't always follow a straight line. Someone can be genuinely unable to work today and, with the right support at the right time, find their way back. What we've built acknowledges that uncertainty honestly and tries to work with it rather than against it."