Government statement on equitable life is too little too late - Rennie (Aberdeen Central Liberal Democrats)

Aberdeen Central Liberal Democrats <info@libdems.org.uk>

Government statement on equitable life is too little too late - Rennie

January 20, 2009 5:03 PM
Originally published by Scottish Liberal Democrats

Commenting on the Treasury Minister's statement that the Government will provide compensation for Equitable Life policy-holders, Dunfermline and West Fife MP Willie Rennie said: "While I welcome the fact that the Government has finally agreed to pay compensation to the policy-holders, many of whom lost huge amounts of their savings, I regret that no timescale has been given, and absolutely no indication of the levels of compensation has been provided.

"The Minister's apology to Equitable Life policyholders will be too little too late for many of the people who have been left in limbo in the intervening years.Willie Rennie MP

"The Treasury has not hesitated to bail out the banks in the financial crisis, so I see no reason why Ministers should now hide behind a bureaucratic, drawn-out compensation system. The Government must instigate a fast-track compensation scheme that will allow them to rectify their mistakes quickly.

"For many policy holders it means more delay, with no idea of what entitlement to expect, and for others it is unfortunately too late."

Notes:

1. Figures from Equitable Members Action Group (EMAG) show that 248 people in Mr Rennie's constituency of Dunfermline and West Fife were hit by the collapse of Equitable Life. In addition to these individual policyholders, it is estimated that thousands more have been affected as part of Equitable group schemes.