SUBSTANTIAL pressure from Isle of Wight MP Andrew Turner, pictured, has paid off as the Parliamentary Ombudsman has decided to investigate the role that the government and regulator have played in events concerning the troubled insurance company Equitable Life.
The Tory MP said he had received a number of letters from Islanders over the issue of compensation from the company, which led him to raise the issue with both the Prime Minister and the Parliamentary Ombudsman.
He said: "I am delighted that concerted pressure from myself and fellow parliamentarians has meant that this whole issue is finally going to be put under the microscope."
The Ombudsman has announced that the period from January 1 1999 until December 2000, when the Financial Services Authority took over responsibility for regulating Equitable Life, will now come under scrutiny.
The Ombudsman has the power to recommend payment of compensation, if it feels that the government's handling of the situation contributed directly to policyholders losing money.
Mr Turner added: "While the inquiry is unlikely to appear before September 2002, it must be seen as a step in the right direction, and a welcome development to long- suffering policyholders."
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