The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Justice for Equitable Life Policyholders

292 MP members (and 2 members from the Lords) have joined the group so far. Has yours?

Members of the APPG are encouraged to support the Group’s Statement of Resolve:

Statement of Resolve

We, the members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Justice for Equitable Life Policyholders, representing the one million policyholders who were victims of maladministration, note that:

• Equitable Life policyholders' losses were found by the Parliamentary Ombudsman to be a direct result of a decade of maladministration by government and regulators, including HM Treasury;
• the Ombudsman recommended that policyholders should be put back in the position they would have been had that maladministration not taken place;
• the Government accepted the Ombudsman’s recommendations in full;
• the Government accepted that the losses arising from maladministration amounted to £4.1bn
• only £1.5bn was made available to compensate policyholders, with the vast majority receiving only 22% of their losses;
• the most elderly and vulnerable with-profits annuitants were excluded from compensation and only received an ex-gratia
• payment following a cross-party campaign;
• there are significant questions over the accuracy of the payments that have been made and the level of transparency around how individuals’ losses have been calculated;
• it is now 20 years since Equitable Life collapsed and 10 years since partial compensation was first announced.

We believe that:

• Equitable Life policyholders acted responsibly by saving for their own future, before suffering loss and hardship because of government maladministration;
• policyholders deserve justice: from those who helped rebuild Britain after the war to the nurses, teachers, civil servants, shop workers and postal workers who followed them and worked hard to save, with most having less than £20,000 in their pension pot;
• there have been too many delays and excuses for failing to do the right thing, with too many victims continuing to die without the proper compensation they were promised;
• there must be greater transparency about the basis and accuracy of payments that have been made;
• the Government must finally honour the debt owed to Equitable Life victims and provide the full compensation to which they are entitled.

As Members of Parliament from all parties we therefore resolve to:

• continue to campaign until the full compensation due to Equitable Life policyholders is forthcoming;
• call on the Public Accounts and Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committees to inquire into the accuracy and transparency of payments made to date.