Ausure Insurance Brokers is calling on nominations for the Mike Dunn Supplier of the Year Award. This award is presented to the insurer, underwriting agency or premium funding company or representative that has gone above and beyond their usual duties to assist, support and help the Ausure branches and head office to achieve success. It should be someone who has consistently made it easier and a pleasure to deal with the company they represent, or the company as a whole.

Tell us more about this award?

The Mike Dunn Supplier of the Year Award was announced by Ausure in 2010, to honour Mike Dunn after his passing. The first award was presented at the Ausure Conference in 2011 and it has been presented at each of the conferences ever since.

The Mike Dunn Supplier of the Year Award recognises and honours the role Mike Dunn played in assisting a number of Ausure offices to build and maintain a portfolio, especially in the early days and consistently after that. Mike Dunn worked in a variety of underwriting roles with insure that, AXA, Federation/Wesfarmers, NGI and MLC.

The Mike Dunn Supplier of the Year Award acknowledges a company or person who goes beyond their duties to assist and support our offices, something that was second nature to Mike. The recipient could be an insurer, underwriter, premium funder or underwriting agency. As all within Ausure can nominate, it is truly representative of the Ausure Group.

One of Ausure founding brokers, David Paul (Ausure Moree), who suggested the award to Ausure originally, recalls, “During the insurance crisis of the late 1990s/early 2000s, following the demise of HIH and FAI Insurance, many of us were aware we were walking a tightrope. And when you don’t know you’re walking a tightrope, you fall off. There was an enormous amount of anxiety, fear and confusion. Insurance agents were cutting and running. It certainly was a tumultuous period.

However, Mike Dunn (Dunny) was the main underwriter who dealt with us when everyone else was turned away. It was a mutually beneficial association and one that helped us form a basis on which to build our businesses.”

“Dunny was a real good bloke. He was exceptionally kind, never hesitating to assist anyone he possibly could or put himself out to do things for other people. He simply did the best for everyone. He was understanding, patient, and could giggle with the girls as well as be one of the blokes. There should be more people like him in the world.”

“He mentored younger staff and new employees, taking them under his wing with unlimited patience and understanding. He would only get impatient with people he needed to get impatient with.”

“As an underwriter, he was of equal importance to our business as people in our own business. We trusted Dunny to help us, especially in the early days, and our trust was never misguided.”

An old colleague of Mike Dunn says, “What a wonderful and very appropriate award to be named in honour of a dear friend and a great work colleague. Mike was one of the last of the “old school” underwriters, those who could underwrite a risk from their head rather than from a rate book and manual. It came naturally to him.”

“Mike was a bit of a larrikin at times, but always kind, generous and decent. He was gentle and compassionate. Above all, he was a rare character. It is fitting that his memory be perpetuated by this award.”

Receiving the Mike Dunn Supplier of the Year Award is an honour and we look forward to announcing the 2022 winner at the Ausure Conference in Hobart, Tasmania, in early March 2023.

Everyone in the Ausure Group is invited to nominate the winner for 2022. Please send us your nominations for the Mike Dunn Supplier of The Year to awardnominations@ausure.com.au right now or before 31 Jan 2023. Please include your reasons for nominating the company or person and why you feel they deserve the award.

See also, our last article regarding getting your nomination in for Ausure’s Young Achiever Award.