From the 1 April, 2018, 1,000 employees at Direct Line Group will benefit from a new minimum salary of either £18,000 for a 37.5 hour a week contract or £17,000 for a 35 hour a week contract.  The new minimum salary is six per cent higher than the Living Wage Foundation and 18 per cent higher than the Government’s National Minimum Wage.  Going forward all new joiners (with the exception of apprentices) will be paid at least the new minimum salary.

In addition to the new minimum salary, to enable everyone to share in the Group’s success and celebrate the company’s fifth birthday, Direct Line Group has awarded a £500 free share award to all employees hired before 27 February and still employed on the day they are granted (29 March). Following this award, an employee who has been with the company since IPO and received, and retained, the three previous free share awards (£250, £400, £250), will now have a total holding of 446 shares (potential total worth of £2018.10 based on the closing share price yesterday and including dividends paid to date).

Simon Linares, HR director, Direct Line Group, commented:

“2017 was the fifth successive year we have delivered growth in the businesses. We could not do this without the hard work and dedication of our talented people. My objective this year was to ensure that as many colleagues as possible receive a meaningful pay increase, specifically targeted at those in lower paid roles. This is why we are introducing a new company wide minimum salary of either £17,000 or £18,000 (depending on contracted hours) which delivers an average pay increase of around five per cent to those people in our lowest paid front line roles and a minimum pay increase of £650 for everyone across the organisation.

“We are an organisation with a clear mission, to make insurance easier and better value for our customers. It is our people that make this happen and we want to continue to boost the rewards both to retain our brilliant people and attract the best talent to the business.”

ENDS

Notes to editor

To apply for a role at Direct Line Group, please go to www.directlinegroupcareers.com

For more information please contact:

Lisa Tremble
Head of External Affairs
Direct Line Group
Tel: 01651 834 211
Mob: 07795 234 801
Email: [email protected]

Claire Foster
Deputy Head of News
Direct Line Group
Tel: 0165 183 1672
Mob: 07525 665 504
Email: [email protected]

Direct Line Insurance Group plc

Direct Line Group is headquartered in Bromley. Through its number of well known brands the Group offers a wide range of general insurance products to consumers. These brands include Direct Line, Churchill and Privilege. The Group also provides insurance services for third parties through its partnerships division, Direct Line Group Partnerships. In the commercial sector, the Group's NIG and Direct Line for Business operations offer insurance products for businesses distributed through brokers or direct, respectively.