Hopeful victims must wait for the nitty gritty

INVESTOR Peter Metcalf believes this is the "last kick of the ball" for Equitable policyholders to achieve the sort of settlement they have campaigned for, but says nothing is certain until they get down to the nitty gritty.

Peter from East Lothian said: "I'm very pleased that the intention now is to compensate everyone equally in proportion to their loss, not according to their financial need. And I understand the government must be mindful of the public purse.

"But until we get the actual detail of what is being planned, it is understandable that some investors will have reservations about the eventual outcome."

Peter had opted out of Serps into an Equitable pension, so part of his state pension will have been affected. Equally importantly, as a small businessman, he made large injections into the insurer later in his career.

Peter, who is now semi-retired, said: "When you are setting up a business, all your money is invested in it. There is nothing to make pension contributions.

"That comes much later, so when it does, it is vital that you get it right. You go through all the projections and calculations very thoroughly.

"It is very annoying when you are told that certain things will be guaranteed at a certain time, to find out not only are they not guaranteed, but that their value will be chopped, and there is no prospect of their growing in the future."