Direct Line  ordered to reassess five years of claims

Insurance giant Direct Line has been ordered to reassess five years of claims after admitting it underpaid some car and van customers.

The FTSE 250 firm was issued a notice by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) saying it must review losses where vehicles were written off between September 2017 and mid-August 2022 to identify anyone given an unfair settlement.

Direct Line said it expected it would only affect ‘a minority of customers’. ‘We will contact impacted individuals to apologise and provide appropriate redress, including interest.’

The FCA said in December that it had uncovered evidence that motor insurance customers whose cars were written off following crashes had received payouts that were lower than the fair market value.

Direct Line has suffered a string of profit warnings as surging inflation pushed up costs, sparking the exit of chief executive Penny James in January.