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DIRECT Line Group is axing 800 of its UK staff in a move that will see it lose 7 per cent of its 11,000-strong workforce.
The insurer has decided to close one of its regional offices, while the size of a second site is being shrunk.
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Direct Line Group (DLG) wouldn’t reveal which specific locations are affected as it says staff need to be told first, but it expects to release this information later today.
The insurer’s head office is in Bromley in South London, while it has 14 regional offices in England and one in Scotland.
It has confirmed the cuts are being made across different roles and parts of the business, and blames customers increasingly taking out policies and contacting customer services online for the losses.
DLG claims to be the UK’s largest motor insurance provider with 4.1million policies in force under its Direct Line, Churchill, and Privilege brands, as well as through its partners.
Where are Direct Line’s regional offices?
HERE’S where the Direct Line Group’s regional offices are currently based:
- Birmingham
- Bristol
- Bromley x2 – head office and regional office
- Croydon
- Doncaster
- Farnham
- Glasgow
- Gloucester
- Ipswich
- Leeds
- London (central)
- Maidstone
- Manchester
- Peterborough
- Watford
It has 2.6million home insurance policies in place, and is one of the UK’s biggest travel and pet insurance providers.
Direct Line is also behind breakdown cover provider Green Flag.
A DLG spokesperson said: “Like many companies we are having to prepare for changes in the way we operate reflecting changing customer behaviour where people are increasingly opting to interact with us digitally.
“We are therefore proposing a number of changes across the business which sadly mean the loss of jobs for some of our people.
“These decisions are always really difficult, we take the wellbeing of our people very seriously and have given people as much time as possible to prepare.
“We will be working with our employee representative body to make sure people are well supported through the process including helping them to find alternative employment by working with local organisations and providing CV and interview training.”
Your rights if you’re made redundant
IF you’re being made redundant, you may be eligible for the below, according to GOV.UK.
- Redundancy pay: If you’ve been working for your current employer for at least two years, you’re usually entitled to a statutory redundancy pay.
- A notice period: According to redundancy law, you’re entitled to a minimum notice period of 12 weeks’ if employed for 12 years or more, at least one week’s notice if you have been employed between one month and two years, or one week’s notice for each year if employed between two and 12 years. If your employer doesn’t want you to work your notice period they can offer you a lump sum instead.
- A consultation with your employer: Employers always have to consult with employees before dismissing them on the grounds of redundancy. In short, your employer must tell you what’s going on and give you a chance to ask questions and raise objections.
- The option to move into a different job: Your employer might offer you “suitable alternative employment” within your organisation or an associated company. Keep in mind that you may lose your right to statutory redundancy pay if you unreasonably turn it down.
- Time off to find a new job: If you’ve been continuously employed for two years, you could be given a reasonable amount of time off to look for another job or to arrange training to help you find another job.
It’s a challenging time for major UK employers with Ted Baker revealing today that it’s cut 160 jobs.
While only this week Tesco revealed it’s scrapping 1,800 jobs as it plans to cut back on in-store bakeries.
And earlier this month, HSBC revealed it’s ditching 35,000 jobs globally over three years.
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