Bruce slams Government for stalling on Equitable Life compensation

12.00.00am GMT Mon 22nd Dec 2008

Gordon MP Malcolm Bruce has attacked the Government for stalling on announcing a compensation package for those who lost out as a result of the near-collapse of Equitable Life.

Mr. Bruce said:

"It is a disgrace after the Prime Minister promised a statement to the House of Commons before Christmas, that policy holders will now have to wait until January for the announcement, six months after the Parliamentary Ombudsman's report which recommended that a compensation fund be set up, and also called for the Government to apologise to policyholders, after she identified flaws with the regulators and identified 10 separate instances of maladministration."

Figures show that over 500 policy holders in the Gordon constituency were affected by the near collapse in 2000 and across Scotland; as many as another 50,000 were in group schemes with Equitable Life. As many as 30,000 people are estimated to have died since 2000.

Mr Bruce added:

"I hope that when the Government finally does respond to the Ombudsman's report- assuming it is not further delayed- they follow the recommendations made and do everything they can for the thousands of policyholders in the City and the Shire who have lost out."

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Equitable Members Action Group (EMAG) figures show that there were 565 individual policy holders in 2000 and 679 from the neighbouring Aberdeenshire seat of West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, totally over 1000 in those 2 parliamentary seats alone.