Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, What recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that Equitable Life policyholders are reimbursed.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Equitable Life Payment Scheme has been fully wound down and closed since 2016 and there are no plans to reopen any previous decisions relating to the Payment Scheme or review the £1.5 billion funding allocation previously made to it. Further guidance on the status of the Payment Scheme after closure is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equitable-life-payment-scheme#closure-of-the-scheme.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the total £1.5 billion allocated for the Equitable Life Payments Scheme is paid out to affected Equitable Life policyholders.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government allocated £1.5 billion to the Equitable Life Payment Scheme. Before it ceased operations in 2016, the Scheme issued £1.12 billion in tax-free payments to nearly 933,000 policyholders. The remainder of the £1.5 billion has been set aside for future payments to the With-Profits Annuitants. Further information is available in the Final Report on the Scheme (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equitable-life-payment-scheme-final-report).

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department has paid in compensation to affected Equitable Life policyholders as of 8 February 2024.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government allocated £1.5 billion to the Equitable Life Payment Scheme. Before it ceased operations in 2016, the Scheme issued £1.12 billion in tax-free payments to nearly 933,000 policyholders. The remainder of the £1.5 billion has been set aside for future payments to the With-Profits Annuitants. Further information is available in the Final Report on the Scheme. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equitable-life-payment-scheme-final-report).

At 31 December 2023, the total value of payments made by the Equitable Life Payment Scheme was £1,330,835,466.52.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to establish a new compensation scheme for Equitable Life policyholders.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Equitable Life Payment Scheme has been fully wound down and closed since 2016 and there are no plans to reopen any previous decisions relating to the Payment Scheme or review the £1.5 billion funding allocation previously made to it. Further guidance on the status of the Payment Scheme after closure is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equitable-life-payment-scheme#closure-of-the-scheme.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to ensure that any underspend of the allocated Equitable Life compensation will be distributed amongst policyholders.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government allocated £1.5 billion to the Equitable Life Payment Scheme. Before it ceased operations in 2016, the Scheme issued £1.12 billion in tax-free payments to nearly 933,000 policyholders. The remainder of the £1.5 billion has been set aside for future payments to the With-Profits Annuitants. Further information is available in the Final Report on the Scheme (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equitable-life-payment-scheme-final-report).

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department (a) forecasted would be spent and (b) spent on compensation for Equitable Life policyholders at 2011 prices in each financial year since 2011.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government allocated £1.5 billion to the Equitable Life Payment Scheme. Before it ceased operations in 2016, the Scheme issued £1.12 billion in tax-free payments to nearly 933,000 policyholders. The remainder of the £1.5 billion has been set aside for future payments to the With-Profits Annuitants. Further information is available in the Final Report on the Scheme (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equitable-life-payment-scheme-final-report).

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of (a) the value of payments made to qualifying With-Profits Annuitants under the Equitable Life Payments Scheme for each year since 2019, and (b) the projected value of future payments to qualifying With-Profits Annuitants under the Equitable Life Payments Scheme to the year 2050.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Equitable Life Payment Scheme has been fully wound down and closed since 2016. The methodology for calculating payments to Equitable Life policyholders was published in 2011 and extensively reviewed and there are no plans to reopen any previous decisions relating to the Payment Scheme or review the £1.5 billion funding allocation previously made to it. Further guidance on the status of the Payment Scheme after closure is available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equitable-life-payment-scheme#closure-of-the-scheme.

The value of payments made to With-Profits Annuitants from the Equitable Life Payment Scheme in each financial year since 2019 is as follows:

2019-20 £31,137,789

2020-21 £30,246,425

2021-22 £27,986,074

The projected value of remaining payments to WPAs until 2050 is £251 million.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will require Willis Towers Watson to publish the assumptions and intermediate calculations used in calculating the relative losses of Equitable Life policyholders following maladministration.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Equitable Life Payment Scheme has been fully wound down and closed since 2016. The methodology for calculating payments to Equitable Life policyholders was published in 2011 and extensively reviewed and there are no plans to reopen any previous decisions relating to the Payment Scheme or review the £1.5 billion funding allocation previously made to it. Further guidance on the status of the Payment Scheme after closure is available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equitable-life-payment-scheme#closure-of-the-scheme.

The value of payments made to With-Profits Annuitants from the Equitable Life Payment Scheme in each financial year since 2019 is as follows:

2019-20 £31,137,789

2020-21 £30,246,425

2021-22 £27,986,074

The projected value of remaining payments to WPAs until 2050 is £251 million.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, further to the methodology previously published, if he will take steps to publish the assumptions and intermediate calculations used in calculating the relative losses of Equitable Life policyholders following maladministration.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Equitable Life Payment Scheme has been fully wound down and closed since 2016. The methodology for calculating payments to Equitable Life policyholders was published in 2011 and extensively reviewed and there are no plans to reopen any previous decisions relating to the Payment Scheme or review the £1.5 billion funding allocation previously made to it. Further guidance on the status of the Payment Scheme after closure is available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equitable-life-payment-scheme#closure-of-the-scheme.

The value of payments made to With-Profits Annuitants from the Equitable Life Payment Scheme in each financial year since 2019 is as follows:

2019-20 £31,137,789

2020-21 £30,246,425

2021-22 £27,986,074

The projected value of remaining payments to WPAs until 2050 is £251 million.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has taken recent steps to help ensure that people affected by the Equitable Life scandal are compensated.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Equitable Life Payment Scheme closed to claims in 2015. There are no plans to reopen the Payment Scheme or review the £1.5 billion funding allocation previously made to it. Further guidance on the status of the Payment Scheme after closure is available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equitable-life-payment-scheme#closure-of-the-scheme.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much of the £1.5 billion in announced by the Treasury for compensating Equitable Life policyholders has not been spent as of 24 June 2022.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

At 31 May 2022, the total value of payments made by the Equitable Life Payment Scheme was £1,305,099,430.44

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has to provide further support to the victims of the Equitable Life scandal.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Equitable Life Payment Scheme closed to claims in 2015. There are no plans to reopen the Payment Scheme or review the £1.5 billion funding allocation previously made to it. Further guidance on the status of the Payment Scheme after closure is available at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equitable-life-payment-scheme#closure-of-the-scheme.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will ensure that Equitable Life policyholders who invested in regulated products will be entitled to similar levels of compensation to those who invested in unregulated mini-bonds marketed by London Capital and Finance.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The schemes are not comparable as there are important differences between the situations at Equitable Life and London Capital Finance. The Government compensation schemes in each case sought to achieve a fair outcome for investors and taxpayers based on the particular circumstances surrounding each firm.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take in 2022 to help people affected by the Equitable Life scandal.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Since 2010, the government has taken more action to resolve this issue than ever was taken previously, including setting up a payment scheme to make payments of up to £1.5bn to eligible policyholders. Since the Scheme closed in 2016, the Government’s position on this issue has been clear, that there will be no further funding in addition to the £1.5bn and this issue is considered closed.

The methodology for calculating payments to Equitable Life policyholders was published in 2011 and can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/equitable-life-payment-scheme-design.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that compensation is provided to Equitable Life Assurance Society policy holders.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

I refer the Honourable Member for Nottingham East to the answer I gave on the 19 April 2021. UIN: 179543