Equitable Life

Andrea Leadsom Excerpts

Tuesday 25th November 2014 Written Statements

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Andrea Leadsom)]

As of 31 October 2014, the scheme has now issued payments totalling £990.5 million to 887,061 policyholders. The scheme has published a further progress report, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/equitable- life-payment-scheme

The figures are broken down as follows:

409,221 payments to individual investors have been issued totalling £555.2 million.

37,732 initial payments to with-profits annuitants (WPAs) or their estates have been issued by the scheme, totalling £82 million. Subsequent annual payments totalling £187.5 million have also been issued to annuitants.

440,108 payments totalling £165.8 million have been issued to those who bought their policy through their company pension scheme.

There are now approximately 151,000 policyholders who are due a payment but where the scheme has not yet been able to trace or validate their address.

The scheme has gone to significant lengths to trace eligible policyholders. It remains committed to tracing and paying as many eligible policyholders as possible, and will continue to consider all proportionate actions it can take to do this, including working with the Department for Work and Pensions.

The scheme encourages any policyholders who believe themselves to be eligible to call the scheme on: 0300 0200 150. The scheme can verify the identity of most policyholders on the telephone, which means any payment due can usually be received within two weeks.