Chloe SmithMP for Norwich North
Chloe Smith
Chloe Smith, MP for Norwich North, welcomed the news that some Equitable Life annuitants will receive compensation by Christmas, but is calling on any constituents who had pensions with Equitable Life to make sure they get the compensation promised to them by the government before it is too late.
“I welcome the news that the Treasury is speeding up compensation to be paid before Christmas,” said Chloe after she received confirmation from a Minister. Chloe has corresponded with the Treasury since she was first elected on behalf of Equitable Life claimants in Norwich North.
She went on: “Although 450,000 people have now received a compensation cheque, I am told that about 20% remain untraced, and if people don’t get their claim in they will miss out. It would be such a shame if having worked all their lives, these 200,000 pensioners miss out on the money that has been allocated to them - and it’s tax-free too.”
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.
Figures supplied by the Equitable Members Action Group (EMAG) suggest that there are over more than 400 people in Norwich North alone missing out on thousands of pounds in compensation. Nationally the figure is close to 200,000.
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.
If you think you have an eligible policy but have not yet heard from the Scheme, you can first confirm that your 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 your full name, address and your Equitable Life policy number in all correspondence.
The Scheme website can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/ELcompensation or http://equitablelifepaymentscheme.independent.gov.uk/index.htm
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