Equitable Life (Payments) Act 2010

The Equitable Life (Payments) Act 2010 is a piece of legislation passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in response to the near collapse of the Equitable Life Assurance Society. The Act established a compensation scheme designed to provide payments to those policyholders who suffered disproportionately as a result of regulatory failures that contributed to the crisis at Equitable Life.

The Act authorized the creation of a specific fund, often referred to as the "Equitable Life Payment Scheme," and outlined the parameters for its operation. The aim of the scheme was not to fully compensate all policyholders for their losses, but rather to provide ex-gratia payments to those deemed to have been unfairly affected by the events leading up to the society's financial difficulties.

The legislation followed a report by the Parliamentary Ombudsman which found maladministration on the part of government regulators in their oversight of Equitable Life. The Act provided the legal framework for the government to address the Ombudsman's findings and provide redress to affected individuals.

The operation of the payment scheme involved assessing individual cases based on specific criteria established by the Treasury. These criteria considered factors such as the type of policy held, the age of the policyholder, and the extent of financial losses incurred. The payments were made over several years, with the scheme eventually winding down.

The Act remains a significant piece of legislation in the history of financial services regulation in the UK, highlighting the government's responsibility to address failures in regulatory oversight and to provide some form of redress to individuals impacted by those failures.