I've expressed my support for the South Oxfordshire victims of the near-collapse of Equitable Life. There's a wrong here which needs to be redressed. Policyholders have fought a long battle for justice. Their fight seemed to have reached a crucial point with the publication in July 2008, of the Ombudsman's report into the regulation of Equitable Life.
The Ombudsman set out a number of areas where there had been maladministration in respect of the regulation of Equitable Life and, as a consequence, she recommended that the Government make payments to policyholders. She said that these payments should reflect relative loss and that the state of public finances should be borne in mind when drawing up a payment scheme.
The Government asked a retired judge, Sir John Chadwick, to look into detailed aspects of the compensation process and Sir John has said he will produce the design for a scheme to make ex-gratia payments in Spring 2010. But there is no commitment on when payments will be made.
The Ombudsman unusually produced a second report which states
"I was deeply disappointed that the Government chose to reject many of the findings that I had made, when I was acting independently on behalf of Parliament and after a detailed and exhaustive investigation."
I will continue to put pressure on the Government to speed up the process so that policyholders receive the justice they deserve.
