Direct Line News

British Insurers Suspend Sale of Travel Insurance to New Customers

British insurers Admiral, Aviva and Direct Line are no longer offering travel insurance to new customers, they said on their websites on Friday. “The ongoing global situation with coronavirus means there’s much greater likelihood of disruption to people’s travel plans, …

UK Auto Insurer Direct Line Offers Tesla Drivers 5% Discount if They Use ‘Auto-Pilot’

Britain’s largest motor insurer Direct Line is offering Tesla Inc drivers in Britain a 5-percent discount for switching on the car’s autopilot system, seeking to encourage use of a system it hopes will cut down on accidents. The move – …

UK to Alter ‘Ogden Rate’ Used to Calculate Personal Injury Payments

Britain plans to alter the rate used to calculate upfront personal injury payments, the Ministry of Justice said on Thursday, a move which will reduce those payments and insurance premiums. Motor insurers’ profits were dented and insurance premiums have risen …

Britain Raises Insurance Premium Tax to 10% to Fund Flood Defenses

Britain’s finance minister George Osborne said on Wednesday he would raise the tax on motor and home insurance premiums by 0.5 percentage points to 10 percent to fund flood defenses, boosting insurance shares as the rise was smaller than anticipated. …

Insurers Could Find an Early-Mover Advantage from Telematics: Fitch

The motor insurance industry faces a significant shake-up from two waves of technological innovation – the growth of telematics and the development of driverless cars, according to Fitch. Over the short term, telematics will have a bigger impact on the …

‘Brexit’ Could Hurt Investments, Cause Regulatory Uncertainty: UK’s Direct Line

A British exit from the European Union could hurt UK insurer Direct Line’s investment portfolio and cause regulatory uncertainty, it said on Tuesday after posting a 3 percent rise in 2015 operating profit. Britain will hold a referendum on EU …

Storm Frank Batters North Britain; Total Storm Losses Could Top $4.5 Billion

Torrential rain and gale force winds battered northern Britain on Wednesday, cutting power to thousands of homes and forcing some to evacuate flooded streets in the third major storm in a month. The Environment Agency said Britain had faced an …

Update: U.K. Insurers Face Flood Claims up to $2.2B – with More Storms Ahead

Insurers are facing some of the costliest British floods on record as large parts of northern England, already inundated, brace for more heavy rain. Accountants estimate that insurers are currently facing a bill of up to 1.5 billion pounds ($2.22 …

Group of UK Insurers Win BOE Approval for Solvency II Capital Requirements

Prudential Plc, Aviva Plc and Legal & General Group Plc are among large U.K. insurers to win Bank of England approval of the models they use to calculate capital requirements under the European Union law known as Solvency II. The …

UK’s Direct Line Hikes Motor Premiums as Result of Claims Inflation

Direct Line Insurance Group Plc, the UK’s largest car insurer, said pricing for its motor business increased in the last two quarters because of higher claims. Rates for car cover rose 8.4 percent in the three months through September, the …