Scottish Provident windfalls on way

By JO THORNHILL
Updated: 19:00 EST, 8 October 2001

SCOTTISH Provident customers will find out in the coming days if they are to receive a windfall payment as a result of the Abbey National takeover.

The life insurance company has sent out letters to qualifying members, outlining how the windfalls - totalling £1.6bn - will be split among policyholders. It is expected that around 450,000 policyholders, including all the society's with-profits customers, will receive a cheque for £500 to compensate for their loss of membership.

The biggest payouts are reserved for the 390,000 with-profits policyholders. They are expected to share in cash payouts averaging £3,400 each, although the exact level of this variable payout has yet to be calculated.

Scottish Provident has said it will send out further letters to members in December outlining how much they should expect to receive in the way of a windfall. Payments will be made early in the New Year.

Although the majority of payouts are for with-profits policyholders, around 60,000 other customers who took out policies on or before 1996 will also receive cash.

Policyholders with some of the biggest and longest-held with-profits policies could receive payouts in excess of £100,000.

An estimated 1,000 policyholders whose policies matured before 7 September 2000 - when Scottish Provident announced the takeover deal - who decided not to cash in their policies, will not receive any compensation as they are deemed to have lost membership.

Customers should check carefully their letters from Scottish Provident to ensure all their relevant policies have been included for compensation.

If you have further queries you can contact the Scottish Provident helpline on 0845 270 0444.