Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Plus-size cut down to size Fashion firm pays out £40m compo
FASHION firm N Brown is shelling out up to £40million compensation to 160,000 customers who were sold “flawed” insurance.
The company, known for its plus-size clothing, is handing back the money to people who bought policies between 2006 and 2014, with the vast majority before 2011.
It followed a crackdown by City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority to ensure insurance products offer value for money.
The policies were provided by an outside underwriter to cover damage or faults on products such as TVS and furniture.
It dates back to when N Brown was a catalogue-led firm selling a wider range of goods.
The compensation – averaging a £100 each – came after a review concluded that the insurance was badly designed and didn’t pay out enough. N Brown put the bill at between £35m and £40m but added: “There may be mitigating actions to reduce the overall net cost.”
Shares in the Manchester-based business slumped 6.4% yesterday.
It’s not the first time N Brown has suffered a big bill for financial products. Earlier this year, the company behind Simply Be, JD Williams and Jacamo was stung by exceptional costs relating to the misselling of payment protection insurance. It took a £25.2m hit to cover PPI compensation for customers. Oil = $48.31