UK insurance company Direct Line has hired Angela Yotov as group general counsel, part of a trio of executive appointments amid a potential £3.7bn merger with Aviva.

Yotov is joining from UK merchant bank Close Brothers Group, where she also served as group GC. She is replacing Humphrey Tomlinson, who is retiring from the company. The other two appointments include chief risk officer Maz Brown, who joined in December from Aviva, and chief people officer Jane Storm, who is joining from easyJet. Yotov will take up her new role in February.

Bromley-based Direct Line is one of the UK’s largest insurers, covering motor, home, pet and travel insurance, among other areas.

Adam Winslow, Direct Line Group CEO, said: “We are pleased to welcome three extremely talented leaders to the group, who bring with them an outstanding track record of delivery. Their collective input will be invaluable as we continue our business transformation and supporting our people through a period of change.”

Yotov has been with Close Brothers since 2019, having previously spent just over three years at peer-to-peer lending platform RateSetter as GC and head of legal. She also previously had spells as legal counsel at Barclays Wealth and Investment Management and Barclays Investment Bank. Prior to her time in-house, she worked in private practice, first at Freshfields and later at Latham & Watkins.

Tomlinson, meantime, exits after 13 years with the company. He previously spent 14 years as group legal director at RSA Insurance Group.

Yotov’s arrival comes shortly after fellow insurance giant Aviva in December agreed to buy Direct Line for £3.7bn, having initially had a £3.3bn bid turned down in November. If the merger completes, the combined company would be the UK’s largest motor insurance provider, with more than 20% of the market. Shareholders are due to vote on the deal in March. 

In other in-house insurance moves, last March US car insurance giant GEICO hired Tengela Richter as its chief legal officer from Wells Fargo. And in December 2023, AIG named Rose Marie Glazer as GC after previous appointee – Stripe GC Patricia Walsh – backed out of the job offer.