Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation

(asked on 21st January 2026) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much of the funding allocated for compensating Equitable Life With-Profits Annuitants has been spent up to and including 2024-25; and how much was forecast to be spent on both a cash and discounted basis.


Answered by
Torsten Bell Portrait
Torsten Bell
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
This question was answered on 29th January 2026

The previous Conservative Government allocated £1.5 billion to the Equitable Life Payment Scheme. Before it ceased operations in 2016, the Scheme had issued £1.12 billion in tax-free payments to nearly 933,000 policyholders. The remainder of the £1.5 billion has been set aside for future payments to the With-Profits Annuitants. Further information is available in the Final Report on the Scheme. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equitable-life-payment-scheme-final-report).

The total value of payments made by the Scheme stood at £1.35 bn as of 30 May 2025, and the Scheme is on track to pay out the remainder.

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