The Financial Ombudsmen Service (FOS) ruled last month that ailing insurer Equitable Life must compensate investors who bought investments between September 1998 and June 2000 as a result of misrepresentation about the position on guaranteed annuity rate claims and the position of the company between this period.
The scheme involves those investors who placed monies within the period and then transferred out before the Compromise Scheme Deal was reached last year.
Our view
For a change, we are on the side of the provider on this one. It is a difficult call for both ombudsmen and provider. It would appear harsh to have to pay compensation for those that chose to leave before any deal was struck. Yet again, ombudsmen seem to rule in favour of the public, when perhaps it is their own fault (or their advisers) if they decided to leave before any compensation/compromise deal was agreed.
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