MP urges Equitable pensioners to apply for compensation before it is too late
The Equitable Life Payments Scheme was set up by the coalition in 2011 to pay up to £1.5 billion to victims of the Equitable Life scandal, and £600 million has already been paid out. But many people have moved without giving their new address and an alarming number seem to be unaware that they are entitled to a payment. The Treasury is planning to shut down the scheme in 2015, with many pensioners at risk of remaining unpaid. Nationally, close to 200,000 pensioners remain untraced and could miss out on thousands of pounds in compensation.
The Parliamentary Ombudsman found that UK financial regulators had failed the firm’s customers every single year throughout the 1990s. In 2008, she published a report entitled ‘A decade of Regulatory Failure’. She called on the government to pay compensation to the victims of the scandal but it was not until 2010 that the new government committed in the coalition agreement to make “swift, fair and transparent payments” to the 1.5 million pensioners affected.
John said:
“Although 450,000 people have now received a compensation cheque, another 200,000 remain untraced and if people don’t get their claim in they will miss out. It would be such a shame, having worked all their lives, to miss out on the money that has been allocated to them. And it’s tax-free too.”
Ends
Word Count: 243
Date: 7th February 2014
Notes to Editors
The Scheme website can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/ELcompensation or http://equitablelifepaymentscheme.independent.gov.uk/index.htm
Pensioners can first confirm that their policy is eligible for the Scheme by telephoning the Scheme’s “Policychecker” service on 0300 0200 150. Or write to Equitable Life Payment Scheme, PO Box 4110, Glasgow G58 1EL quoting full name, address and Equitable Life policy number in all correspondence.
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