Winning new business has never been Direct Line’s strong suit, and managing alluring pricing with profitable underwriting has become an even finer balancing act. Policy numbers fell back again last year, as did gross written premiums. The main culprit? A hyper-competitive motor insurance market.
That’s been the case for a while, but a lower level of claims amid the pandemic and efforts to lure customers ahead of the Financial Conduct Authority’s market reforms meant pricing deflation last year.
Its answer? Launching an online platform for its Direct Line, Churchill and Privilege motor customers, which Penny James, chief executive, reckons will get more products to market faster and improve its policy pricing by giving it greater access to customer data and the ability to tweak those
