Direct Line chasing me over dead uncle’s cancelled car insurance

A reader was surprised then upset when Direct Line made contact to say the final payment on his uncle’s cancelled car insurance was overdue. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

My uncle (RC) died last year and I’m his executor. When I checked his post I was surprised to find a bill from Direct Line addressed to the “executor of RC” stating a “final payment of £148 is overdue” for his cancelled car insurance. This was news to me as my uncle didn’t own a car.

I was upset by this and contacted the insurer to suggest that it owed us money, not the other way round. The £670 policy on his Hyundai i30 had auto-renewed in September 2023 but he had disposed of the car two months later and died in May 2024.