Legal & General has announced the winners of its 15th annual Business Quality Awards.
The awards, held at the ICC Birmingham on 1 July and hosted by author and comedian Dominic Holland, saw 75 entries across categories including customer service, claims support, innovation and long-term care.
A new “Best Claims Performance” category was introduced for 2026, recognising firms providing strong support through the claims journey, alongside the returning “Hero in the Middle” award, which highlights individuals going above and beyond for clients.
Winners this year included First Mortgage in the Best Claims Performance category, Mortgage Advice Bureau for Customer Excellence (Networks), Fairstone Group for Best Customer Retention, and Cavendish Online for Customer Excellence (Firms).
St James’s Place was named Outstanding Customer Outcome (Network), while L&C was named winner of the Consumer Duty category, and Omni Protect was recognised in Customer Excellence (Service Providers).
In total, 15 category winners were announced alongside a number of Special Recognition awards, with firms including LifeSearch, Reassured Ltd, Stonebridge, Primis Mortgage Network / TMA and Embrace Financial Services all recognised.
Individual awards included Kelly Phillips of Omni Protect, who received Special Recognition – Individual, while the “Hero in the Middle” award went to advisers including Aidan McMullan of Business Protection Solutions (UK) Ltd, Lisa Kelly of LifeSearch, and Naomi Jeffs of Waddle.
Russell Kennedy was named Best Supporting Account Manager.
The winners of the 2026 Business Quality Awards are as follows:
| Submission-based categories | |
| Outstanding Performance | Everywhen |
| Best Claims Performance | First Mortgage |
| Best Customer Retention | Fairstone Group |
| Customer Excellence – Firms | Cavendish Online |
| Customer Excellence – Networks | Mortgage Advice Bureau |
| Customer Excellence – Service Providers | Omni Protect |
| Consumer Duty | L&C |
| Protection Written in Trust | The Mortgage Group (NI) MAB |
| Outstanding Customer Outcome (Small Firm) | Business Protection Solutions (UK) Ltd |
| Outstanding Customer Outcome (Medium Firm) | Waddle |
| Outstanding Customer Outcome (Large Firm) | Future Proof Limited |
| Outstanding Customer Outcome (Network) | St James’s Place |
| Outstanding Customer Outcome (Service Providers) | Paradigm Protect |
| Special Recognition | LifeSearch |
| Special Recognition | Embrace Financial Services |
| Special Recognition | Reassured Ltd |
| Special Recognition | Stonebridge |
| Special Recognition | Primis Mortgage Network / TMA |
| Special Recognition – Individual | Kelly Phillips – Omni Protect |
| Hero in the Middle | Aidan McMullan – Business Protection Solutions (UK) Ltd |
| Romany Youell – Rosemount Financial Solutions (IFA) Ltd | |
| Naomi Jeffs – Waddle | |
| Lisa Kelly – LifeSearch | |
| Visham Jawahur – Rosemount Financial Solutions (IFA) Ltd | |
| Best Supporting Account Manager | Russell Kennedy |
James Shattock, managing director, protection and retail retirement at L&G, said protection was about more than paying claims.
“Protection is about more than paying a claim, it’s supporting individuals and families when they need it most,” he said.
He added that the new Best Claims Performance category highlighted firms that had shown “empathy, technical expertise and speed” in supporting customers through the claims process.
“Our winners and finalists are setting the benchmark for delivering strong outcomes,” he said.
