§ Mr. DenhamTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list those life companies which have applied to vary the distribution of long-term funds between shareholders and policyholders, in the past year, and provide in each case, the sum involved and the agreed distribution ratio. [35347]
§ Mr. OppenheimOn 24 February 1995, United Friendly Insurance plc announced the basis on which it proposed to allocate surplus from then on. This followed1214W discussions, starting in 1992, on how the rules in section 30 of the Insurance Companies Act—governing variations between the shareholders' and policyholders' share of distribution surplus—should apply to the circumstances of the company. Policyholders will be entitled to receive 90 per cent. of surplus arising on those parts of United Friendly's business in respect of which it had been determined that they were eligible to share in such surplus.
On the same day, my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary set out the Department's general approach to such issues in his reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Shoreham (Mr. Stephen), Official Report, column 362–63.
Following that announcement, each of the companies listed below has announced that it would be approaching my Department for similar discussions:
- Britannic Assurance plc;
- Legal and General Assurance Society Ltd.;
- Refuge Assurance plc.
Some other companies have also approached the Department on a commercially confidential basis at this stage. The outcome of all such discussions will be made public, if they appear to have a bearing on policyholders' reasonable expectations in respect of allocation of surplus.