minnie Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 OH has a small private pension with EL. We've now had a letter out of the blue from the EL compensation scheme people saying that he "might" be entitled to some compensation for mis-selling. However they need a copy of his passport veriified either by the British Consul or an English based lawyer. Also need a verified copy of an officially translated letter addressed to him from the local tax office here. We've tried other things with them but they stand firm - nothing else will do. Neither will they tell us how much money is involved until we gather this info. which might prove relatively costly. In fact it might cost more to do this than we'd receive. Anyone with similar experiences from this compensation scheme please who might be able to tell us their outcome? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Thanks for posting this, minnie.OH lost about a third of his pension pot with EL but we have not bothered to pursue any compensation procedures.We live just fine with what we have and we don't want the hassle of any of this stuff which may or may not actually result in any financial benefit.I am glad you have posted so that if something similar does come through the post, we'd be forewarned! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 IF this is not a scam then I personally would do the following, I would contact the Financial Ombudsman's office, who appears to be dealing with this stating that the proof they are asking for is unreasonable as you are a french resident and are unable to get your passport so verified without having to go to great expense. My argument being that as the UK is an EU member, officials in other countries have to be acceptable.If you send them an Avis d'impots but make sure that none of the figures are visible, your income really is none of their business.I would also be crying blue murder to my MP as you will still be able to vote in the UK? I would also try and get hold of an authorised copy of your passport in France and I cannot see why there is no reason why you shouldn't chat up someone in the Mairie to do an authorised copy for you, or even get your notaire to do it. This is not honest trading as far as I am concerned. edit, PS I know that Mairie's don't do authorised copies any more, but sometimes they do if you ask nicely.[Www] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardengirl Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 We had a letter out of the blue as well, Minnie. OH was quite certain that nothing would come from it; I had a small hope. Eventually a cheque for around three hundred pounds arrived. Nothing much compared to what was lost, but nice to have. We had other pensions with EL, so you never know, more might be forthcoming; if it doesn't we won't have lost any more money.Good luck with the verified copies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Ceour de Lion II Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 I have a small pension with them, wonder if I'll get anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulT Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 [quote user="sweet 17"]Thanks for posting this, minnie.OH lost about a third of his pension pot with EL but we have not bothered to pursue any compensation procedures.We live just fine with what we have and we don't want the hassle of any of this stuff which may or may not actually result in any financial benefit.I am glad you have posted so that if something similar does come through the post, we'd be forewarned![/quote]Sweets, does not persuing a claim give the green light to companies to rip people off on the basis that those that have been ripped off will not persue the matter.Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnie Posted October 16, 2012 Author Share Posted October 16, 2012 Thanks for contributions to the post. I might go down the route of threatening financial ombudsman if they don't accept the evidence we've given them i.e. passport confirmed by mairie, original letter from Hotel des Impots and original letter with tax code from HMRC. Anyway I've written to them again. However for anyone interested in knowing more here is their website linkhttp://equitablelifepaymentscheme.independent.gov.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 [quote user="PaulT"]Sweets, does not persuing a claim give the green light to companies to rip people off on the basis that those that have been ripped off will not persue the matter.Paul[/quote]OTOH, Paul, life's too short and some things are just too energy-sapping to pursue when you work out the equation of stress+time=(+/-)result[:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Which is exactly what the company is bankig on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 I imagine that people in Sweets position, i.e. no longer UK resident, will comprise a relatively small number of EL clients so their failure to pursue a claim will not even register in the grand scheme of things so will hardly represent a 'green light' for anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted October 16, 2012 Share Posted October 16, 2012 Fortunatly I didn't have my pension with them (I have a lot of sympathy for those that did) but I have been following the thread with interest. I wonder if any of the following websites are of interest to some.http://equitablelifepaymentscheme.independent.gov.uk/http://www.which.co.uk/money/retirement/guides/equitable-life-payment-scheme-explained/The Which site gives so idea of the compensation you could be eligible for which is around 22.4% of the money you lost, according to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnie Posted February 9, 2013 Author Share Posted February 9, 2013 The outcome: OH did all that they asked, obtained official translations, had passport copy signed by consul etc. Whilst pension is not large we had a result today in the form of a cheque from Equitable Life administrators. As this ran into 4 figures (a percentage of the loss) it was well worth the hassle incurred. Very happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frecossais Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Nice to hear you got a result Minnie. Now you can have fun planning how to spend it.[:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Can someone who has been successful please give me a brief résumé as to what is required, please?Just an address or website or email will be brilliant.Many thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnie Posted February 9, 2013 Author Share Posted February 9, 2013 Quillan has set out the website link in his posting of 16 October. There is a frequently asked questions section. Equitable contacted us initially but they did have our up to date address. PM me if you need any specific info.As to spending it - it's already spent on plane tickets to visit daughter in New Zealand next winter!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Thank you. Fingers crossed.........NZ next winter sounds wonderful, enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Zoff Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 Equitable Life was allowed to market its with-profits fund as "low risk" (as opposed to a speculative investment) that was supervised by a government actuary. Thatcher & co actively encouraged employees to make such arrangements in order to take charge of their futures, as opposed to relying on the State pension. The actuary was supposed to make sure that EL's potential liabilities were adequately covered by its assets. As it failed to do that, the government should have fully compensated policyholders for the shortfall. The government declined to do so, despite the findings and recommendations of the parliamentary enquiry into the debacle. Meanwhile, Equitable Life's bosses, actuaries and sales managers (most of whom knew the true situation while the policies were still being sold to an unsuspecting public) retired with big pay-offs and pensions and no recriminations. As no doubt has the government actuary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardengirl Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 I started a new thread as this one didn't show up when I searced:''I seem to remember discussion on this previously, but it hasn't come up on the search facility.If you haven't heard anything about payouts and think you should be getting something, don't give up hope altogether. My OH has just received notice of payment for a second policy taken out with EL, under the government scheme. Not a fortune, but a few hundred pounds, which the letter said would arrive in the next few days. So I'll keep some hope for a little longer for the other two policies we had - it's along time since it all happened and we had decided not to dwell on it, even though we knew we'd been swindled out of money. No sunshine today, but it looks a little brighter now! ''That makes 2 out of 4 policies which have paid; nothing like what we lost, but good to have! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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