LOCAL insurance campaigner Margaret Shaw said she was surprised to receive the People's Choice Award at the Queensland Regional Achievement and Community Awards in Caloundra last night.

Imagine her amazement when she was also awarded the Australia Pacific LNG Regional Service Award for her work fighting for lower insurance premiums for North Queensland.

"I was up against a youth charity and a reading program that's going out for the whole of Queensland, so I hadn't written a speech because I didn't think I had a chance," she said.

"It was a bit of a surprise when my name was called out."

Working tirelessly as a campaigner in North Queensland's strata insurance battle and since premiums rose dramatically after Cyclone Yasi in 2011, and also for cheaper home and contents insurance, Ms Shaw has travelled up and down Australia's East Coast meeting insurance representatives and politicians at State and Federal levels.

She is also the consumer representative on the Northern Australia Insurance Premium Advisory Panel, which advises the Northern Australia Insurance Premium Taskforce, run by the Federal Treasury.

Speaking to the Whitsunday Times as her husband Art drove through Gympie today, Ms Shaw said she wished to thank Di Fleetwood for nominating her for the award, and to everybody who voted for her in the People's Choice Award.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm out there all on my own and then to get the People's Choice Award, it just proves there are people out there who support me," she said.