Equitable Life With Profits Annuitants

CALLING ALL W/P ANNUITANTS - CAN YOU HELP?

Since February 2003, it has been apparent that some with profit annuitants have suffered deductions in excess of 35%, not the maximum 20% Equitable led us to believe was going to apply. Explanations from ELAS as to how these deductions were arrived at have actually been more confusing than helpful. We are putting together a file of annuitants deductions in the expectation that we can 'expose' the misleading information that we have been given and endeavour to get some honest dealing from ELAS.

The information we would like from willing participants when they have received their 'anniversary deduction letter' is as follows:

Your name
The date of your first payment, and your age at that time.

The payments (including pence) from the start of the annuity taken from the annual statement broken down as follows:

Basic annuity
Declared Bonus annuity
Final Bonus annuity
Total Gross annuity

Annual Declared Bonus
Overall Rate of Return on the Fund

Your assumed bonus rate

The gross sum invested
Whether you have a GIR or not (usually this was in policies prior to 1996)
Date of birth
Your policy number.

You may wish not to give your name and policy number and we will respect that.

Please e-mail this information directly to Peter Scawen (a fellow WPA who has kindly volunteered to undertake the analysis) His e-mail is PSCAWEN@aol.com If you have any questions ask Peter.

PLEASE NOTE

1) We must have the pence value of the payments included. Rounded pound numbers cause a problem in calculating the multiplier.

2) If you have missing data we cannot really use it for modelling purposes though it is of interest to complete the picture.

3) We need to know if you are a GIR. Most times it is obvious but it is worth being sure.

4) We need the data from the very start of the annuity as that eases the calculations since at the beginning we have to enter some values as constants.

5) Can you include the Annual Declared Bonus rate and the Overall Rate of return on the Fund for each year which are found on the Annual Statements. These should be the same for everyone but it is good to be sure.

	EQUITABLE LIFE MEMBERS With Profits Annuitants Last Updated: Sunday, July 06, 2003 12:54 PM

	CALLING ALL W/P ANNUITANTS - CAN YOU HELP? Since February 2003, it has been apparent that some with profit annuitants have suffered deductions in excess of 35%, not the maximum 20% Equitable led us to believe was going to apply. Explanations from ELAS as to how these deductions were arrived at have actually been more confusing than helpful. We are putting together a file of annuitants deductions in the expectation that we can 'expose' the misleading information that we have been given and endeavour to get some honest dealing from ELAS. The information we would like from willing participants when they have received their 'anniversary deduction letter' is as follows: Your name The date of your first payment, and your age at that time. The payments (including pence) from the start of the annuity taken from the annual statement broken down as follows: Basic annuity Declared Bonus annuity Final Bonus annuity Total Gross annuity Annual Declared Bonus Overall Rate of Return on the Fund Your assumed bonus rate The gross sum invested Whether you have a GIR or not (usually this was in policies prior to 1996) Date of birth Your policy number. You may wish not to give your name and policy number and we will respect that. Please e-mail this information directly to Peter Scawen (a fellow WPA who has kindly volunteered to undertake the analysis) His e-mail is PSCAWEN@aol.com If you have any questions ask Peter. PLEASE NOTE 1) We must have the pence value of the payments included. Rounded pound numbers cause a problem in calculating the multiplier. 2) If you have missing data we cannot really use it for modelling purposes though it is of interest to complete the picture. 3) We need to know if you are a GIR. Most times it is obvious but it is worth being sure. 4) We need the data from the very start of the annuity as that eases the calculations since at the beginning we have to enter some values as constants. 5) Can you include the Annual Declared Bonus rate and the Overall Rate of return on the Fund for each year which are found on the Annual Statements. These should be the same for everyone but it is good to be sure.

	Write up on the Regional Meeting in Norfolk with Charles Thomson 31 January 2003 Click here for Equitable' comments on transferring to another provider Click here for Equitable Letter to With Profits Annuitants 15 November 2002 Most people agree that the With Profits Annuitants have been particularly badly treated. We would like to talk to Equitable about the possibility of annuitants being allowed to transfer to another provider. The action groups have been very supportive and have brought up our plight to EL, the Treasury and the FSA. Nicholas Oglethorpe met with the Treasury and also the FSA as the representative for the With Profits Annuitants. Nicholas also can be contacted on 01603 454210. A message book is available, unfortunately there is a limitation on the length of the message. Just continue with a second one if you have a problem though.

	For further information contact Tim Balkwill e-mail TBalkwill5310448@aol.com