INSURERS have snatched away the best possible birthday present from Poppy Wright - financial security for the rest of her childhood.

Poppy, who has just celebrated her third birthday, was forced by insurance company Direct Line last year to undergo DNA tests to prove that her late father, Rob Phillips, really was her dad.

Rob had tragically died in a motorcycle accident with a car in 2002, six months before Poppy was born, and Direct Line - insurers for the car driver, who admitted careless driving - wanted proof of paternity before agreeing to pay compensation.

Now a judge has awarded the little girl a total of £191,110 in damages to help her mother, Melanie, meet the costs of bringing her up. The money will be invested to ensure a regular income throughout her childhood until she is 20. The decision reflected the fact that Poppy would have been financially dependent on Rob had he survived.

Judge Sapsford QC said: "Poppy has of course lost her precious father, but is entitled to enjoy the same material standard of life that she would have enjoyed if her father had been able to support her."

But Rosie Stringer, counsel for Direct Line, immediately applied for leave to appeal against the decision. Granting leave, the judge said it had been an unusual case and difficult to calculate the amount of damages.

If an appeal is now lodged by Direct Line and goes to a hearing at the Court of Appeal in London, it could mean a delay of several more months before the case is finally settled, said Melanie's solicitor, Stuart Hanley, of Langleys solicitors.

"We are satisfied with the judgment, but disappointed they have not accepted it, especially as they indicated previously that they wished to settle the case if the DNA tests proved paternity," he said.

Melanie, of Heworth, York, who was already frustrated by delays in settling the case last year, had hoped it would be settled by Christmas. She declined to comment today on the latest delay.

No one was available for comment at Direct Line when the Evening Press phoned for a statement.

The company said last autumn that it hoped to reach a settlement before the matter went to court, but an agreement between the two parties could not be reached.

During yesterday's hearing, the judge said a number of factors were taken into account in deciding the amount of damages, including the earnings that Rob might have achieved in his job as a mechanic, and the possibility that their relationship might have broken down, given that they had only been going out for five months and living together for ten days when Rob died.

But the judge said he had heard no evidence of weakness in their relationship, and would hope that it would have flourished.

Updated: 09:35 Thursday, February 09, 2006