EDM: Compensation for Equitable Life policyholders

Compensation for Equitable Life policyholders

Tabled by Bob Blackman (Conservative) 23 signatures

The motion

That this House notes the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s report into Equitable Life; acknowledges its finding of a decade of maladministration by Government Departments and their regulators and its recommendation for full financial redress; further notes the then Government’s acceptance of the report’s findings and how much individuals lost in retirement savings because of the maladministration; supports the principle that where the state has accepted responsibility for a failure, as well as the financial losses flowing from it, full redress should be provided; notes that of the £4.1billion losses suffered by Equitable Life policyholders only £1.5 billion was made available for compensation; expresses deep concern that an estimated £180 million of that severely limited compensation is set to be kept by the Treasury and not reach the individuals affected; and calls on the Government to ensure that the full value of the £1.5 billion compensation announced to and authorised by Parliament is paid to policyholders, including to the most elderly and vulnerable pre-1992 with-profits annuitants who were excluded from the Equitable Life Payments Scheme on a technicality.

Signatories (23)