27 July 2010
The Parliamentary Ombudsman, Ann Abraham, yesterday made comment
on the ongoing Equitable Life affair. Her office wrote to all MPs
with her assessment of the Chadwick report. The Chadwick Report,
published by the Treasury last week, covers the method of
compensating Equitable Life policyholders.
Ms Abrahams wrote: "I thought it important to let Members
know as soon as possible that the Chadwick proposals seem to me to
be an unsafe and unsound basis on which to proceed. It seems to me
that those proposals, if acted upon, would not in any sense enable
fair and transparent compensation to be delivered."
Later the Ombudsman comments: "In studying the Chadwick
report I have noted that it misinterprets central parts of the
conclusions outlined in my July 2008 report and has ignored
others."
She continues with: "I find these flaws particularly
concerning, providing as they do the basis for some of the central
and more controversial proposals within the Chadwick
report."
Her letter concludes with the comments: "It is not for me to
become engaged with future discussions surrounding the policy now
to be adopted. However, as ever, I remain ready to assist
Parliament in its deliberations on these matters."
A copy of the letter plus other related items can be found on
the Parliamentary Ombudsman's webpage here:
Ombudsman comment on Equitable
Life
