Direct Line management gets the chop

The axe continues to fall at Direct Line Group (DLG) with today’s announcement that 70 senior management roles would go as its cost-cutting programme gathers pace.

The group outlined plans in August to make £100m in gross annual cost savings by the end of 2014.

The first phase of the programme included the announcement of 891 job losses and the closure of the group’s Teesside operational centre.

Among the most significant changes are the announced departures of chief operating officer Jonathan Davidson and Solvency II managing director Sheree Howard. The strategic function will be taken over by chief financial officer John Reizenstein, and property and procurement will now fall under claims managing director Steve Maddock.

Streamlining strategy

All the signs point to DLG simplifying its business structure as the company continues its split from parent RBS Group by stripping out more management layers. It has to be careful, however, that its broker-facing operations do not suffer as a result.

DLG’s subsidiary NIG revealed earlier this month that it planned to make a number of its broker-facing roles redundant in November, with one source telling Insurance Times that up to 15 jobs could go.

But NIG’s management has insisted that broker service levels will not slip, and it will be interesting to see what the role of its new senior business development managers will be when they are unveiled.

RSA signs deal with LV=

In another significant development today, RSA signed its third bilateral agreement with LV= to help speed up motor payments of subrogated motor repair costs and remove unnecessary costs.

It follows the High Court ruling in favour of RSA this month in a dispute over how the firm used its car repair arrangements to charge add-on costs to other insurers. The court had previously ruled in June that RSA’s arrangements were legal, but the verdict was appealed by Allianz and Provident (now Covea Insurance).

It now remains to be seen whether Allianz and Provident will appeal the decision to the Court of Appeal after they were granted 21 days to appeal.