WHITEFORD WELCOMES EQUITABLE COMPENSATION PLAN
Tuesday 18 May 2010
Reports that an enhanced compensation scheme for over one million Equitable Life members has been agreed by the UK coalition government have been ‘cautiously welcomed’ by Banff & Buchan’s MP Eilidh Whiteford.
The document outlining the agreement between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats suggests Equitable members will be compensated for their "relative loss".
The SNP’s Westminster Group of MPs have long campaigned to secure compensation for policy holders with former local MP Alex Salmond raising the issue at Westminster on behalf of constituents.
Commenting from Westminster, Eilidh Whiteford MP said:
“This commitment appears to go considerably further than the limited scheme devised by the previous Labour Government and is being cautiously welcomed by policyholders.
“The Equitable Life saga has dragged on for more than ten years and I am keen to see a resolution for the policyholders affected. What those policyholders deserve now is a clear deadline for the delivery of a compensation scheme.
“It is disgraceful that policyholders have had to go through so much. Tens of thousands of policyholders have died since this process began, and it is good news that we may finally see the implementation of the Ombudsman’s recommendations.
“Many hundreds of people in the North-east alone have been affected and hopefully this is real light at the end of what has been a very long tunnel.”
