Why has Equitable Life taken so long to sort out?
The embers of the former financial giant in the UK, Equitable Life, have been well and truly doused but there is still much anger with regards to the 1.5 million people who were impacted by the company's inability to cover its future liabilities. The company nearly collapsed after losing a court case during which it attempted to reduce liabilities but failed. However, it is estimated that a large number of the 1.5 million people impacted by the company's inability to cover its liabilities are of pension age. It is also estimated that 15 of those affected by the issue are dying each and every day in the UK.
Controversy continues to swarm around the Equitable Life this year with many people often asking why the government is 10 years down the line and seemingly no closer to an acceptable compensation scheme. The £500 million compensation package rumoured to be in the pipeline is but a 10th of the estimated £5 billion losses incurred by those affected. This comes despite the fact that the UK government has accepted responsibility for regulatory lapses which could potentially have prevents the situation we find ourselves in today. Even now it will take between six months and nine months before any initial compensation package is put forward, which many sufferers unlikely to accept the "paltry" amounts on offer.
Share this..
Related stories
Scottish Widows' £25m payout for critical illness
Scottish Widows has announced that it has paid out over £25 million on 774 critical illness policies for the twelve months up to October 2006, but warns that 16 per cent of claims were turned down. The most common claim is for cancer, which accounts for 61 per cent of claims, followed by heart disease and strokes.However of the claims that failed, 53 per cent were refused because people had not d...
Read MoreRBS still looking to sell insurance unit
Contrary to some reports in the press it has this evening been revealed that Royal Bank of Scotland is still looking to sell its insurance arm which has been up for sale for some months. There had been rumours that the sale had been pulled due to the government led bailout of industry but this would appear to be well wide of the mark. The insurance division had been expected to bring in around £7...
Read MoreAlastair Darling defends his national insurance increase
Chancellor of the Exchequer Alastair Darling has today again defended his move to increase national insurance in 2011. This comes after the Conservative party announced a partial U-turn on the proposed increase by the Labour Party with those earning less than £45,400 a year to be protected from an increase in national insurance tax. The Labour Party has hit back with suggestions that the Conserva...
Read MoreDoes your insurance cover you for snow related incidents?
As the UK population get to grips with the heaviest snowfall for nearly 20 years, the ABI (Association of British insurers) has stepped forward to suggest that members of the UK population check their insurance policies if they have been affected by snow. The ABI has specifically targeted travel insurance and car insurance which can in many circumstances offer significant cover for incidents relat...
Read MoreInsurer issues car headlight warning
Four in five drivers do not know the Highway Code's guidelines on using headlights, esure said today.According to the insurer, around one million motorists have also suffered either a road accident or a near-miss due to not turning their lights on.Analysis from esure also shows that "more and more" local authorities are turning off some of their streetlights at night in order to save money - a tre...
Read More