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18 Aug 2009 03:36 PM
Sir John Chadwick issues an interim report on Equitable Life

News Release issued by the COI News Distribution Service on 18 August 2009

Issued by the News Distribution Service on behalf of the Office of Sir John Chadwick

Sir John Chadwick has today issued an interim report that sets out:

* An approach for assessing relative loss, so that an ex gratia payment scheme can be delivered fairly, quickly and placing minimal burden on policyholders;

* The definitive questions he believes need to addressed; and

* The principles he proposes to adopt to determine the appropriate proportion of losses to apportion to the public bodies.

Those wishing to make representations on Sir John's approach or to answer the questions he feels he may need to answer should send written comments to him by Friday 2 October 2009.

Sir John's interim report develops proposals in his document of June 2009. Sir John has received a number of representations on those proposals, including from Equitable Life, the Government, the Equitable Life Trapped Annuitants group and a range of individual policyholders. Sir John has been in talks with these interested parties and in contact with the Parliamentary Ombudsman. Key material between these parties and Sir John is published alongside his interim report.

Running concurrently with this work, Towers Perrin, the appointed actuarial advisors to Sir John, are in the process of reviewing and analysing the more than one and a half million policies that have been provided by Equitable Life and which are relevant to Sir John's work.

Sir John will review all representations he receives while his team continue its further detailed analysis of the policyholder records. He intends to issue his next update in the autumn.

NOTES TO EDITORS
1. Sir John's interim report "Equitable Life ex-gratia payment scheme: Interim Report" is available from the HM Treasury website and that of the Office of Sir John Chadwick.

2. Sir John issued his earlier document "Equitable Life ex-gratia payment scheme, My proposals as to the approach to be adopted and the issues to be addressed" on 16 June 2009.

3. For information about the Office of Sir John Chadwick, please refer to its website at www.chadwick-office.org. This will allow access to all material produced by Sir John, as well as his ongoing reports of progress. Users can also sign up for automatic emails, updating them on any news or new material.

4. Representations and comment in response to this consultation document should be put in writing and sent by Friday 2 October to:

The Office of Sir John Chadwick
One Essex Court
Temple
London
EC4Y 9AR
Email: info@chadwick-office.org

5. Towers Perrin is a global professional services firm. The firm provides actuarial and consulting to insurance and financial services companies. For more information refer to its website at www.towersperrin.com

Contacts:

NDS Enquiries
ndsenquiries@coi.gsi.gov.uk