PensionsJun 25 2015

Over 100,000 Equitable Life policyholders still missing

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Over 100,000 Equitable Life policyholders still missing

The government has made yet another appeal for Equitable Life policyholders owed compensation to come forward, stating that there are about 136,000 policyholders who are still due a payment.

In a statement, the payment scheme confirmed that all policyholders who could be traced have been.

It was back in October 2013 that the government extended the Equitable Life payment scheme to mid-2015 to maximise the number of policyholders able to receive the payments they are due.

The scheme had previously been due to close in April 2014.

At the time of extending the scheme, the government pointed out that address information received from Equitable Life was up to 20-years-old, or non-existent in some cases. As a result the scheme struggled to trace some policyholders.

More than 400,000 policies were supplied without contact addresses.

A progress report issued by the compensation scheme this month noted that 87 per cent of eligible policyholders have now been traced and had a payment issued, representing nearly 92 per cent of the total amount estimated to be due.

In a statement, the government said: “Compensation scheme set up to pay policyholders who lost out due to poor regulation of Equitable Life has now contacted all those policyholders it can trace.

“If you have an eligible policy but have not yet been contacted by the scheme, you should telephone the scheme on 0300 0200 150 to check your eligibility.”

emma.hughes@ft.com