A REPORT to be published next week might clear the way for victims of the collapse of insurance giant Equitable Life to claim billions of pounds of compensation from the UK government, it was reported last night.
It is understood the report by Parliamentary Ombudsman Ann Abraham will accuse watchdog bodies of maladministration and will point the finger of blame at the Treasury, Financial Services Authority and Government Actuary's Department.
The Ombudsman
's office last night declined to discuss the report's contents.
It was reported a draft copy of Ms Abraham's report concludes that the government's failure to regulate the mutual insurer correctly has led to injustice for policyholders.
More than one million customers lost up to 50 per cent of their savings and pensions when the world's oldest insurance company collapsed in 2000.
If government departments or agencies are found to be at fault in Ms Abraham's report, some of those who lost out are likely to pursue court cases to recover of their money. Estimates of the potential cost to the public purse range as high as £4 billion.
Pensions campaigner Ros Altmann said: "If the government can find billions to bail out savers in Northern Rock, then how can it deny treating fairly people who have suffered losses from failure of the government itself?"
The full article contains 221 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
