Q&As for Prudential policyholders

The benefits for Prudential are mentioned in their Chief Executive's letter to Policyholders which is on page 7 and 8 of the Policyholder Circular. In particular, he notes that as a result of the Transfer, Equitable Life's With-Profits annuities will create opportunities for synergies within Prudential in terms of costs and investment management. The transaction also represents a significant increase in Prudential's With-Profits business, which is an area of its strategic focus. Prudential will receive a large block of business from which they expect to make a profit (with no increase in current levels of charges). 

As a Prudential With-Profits Policyholder, there should be no adverse impact on the benefits you can reasonably expect, and the security of your guaranteed benefits will not be materially affected.

The transferring policies will be allocated to the Defined Charge Participating Sub-Fund. The assets backing these policies will be transferred from ELAS to Prudential and will be pooled with the assets in our main With-Profits fund.

No - your annuities will be treated as two separate policies.

In line with the transfer terms that we told you about in 2007, if you're a customer with a former Equitable Life With-Profits Annuity, you won't get a share of the surplus from the inherited estate. But you do benefit from the security that the inherited estate provides.  Having an inherited estate helps us look after the long-term interests of our plan holders.

Any special bonus paid to Equitable Life Policyholders will be funded by the transferring Policyholders' share of the working capital of Equitable Life. As a Prudential Policyholder, you do not stand to benefit from this. 

No - only members of Equitable Life can vote for or against this proposal. 

The FSA produced a report on the Transfer which was lodged with the court, prior to the Court Hearing on 28th November 2007. You can access this report from the Equitable Life transfer details page on the left.

Mr SJ Sarjant FIA, a consulting actuary with Watson Wyatt Limited, has been appointed as the Independent Expert to advise the Court of the potential impact of the proposed transfer on Policyholders. Mr Sarjant has over 23 years experience in the UK life assurance industry and has advised a number of clients in connection with insurance business transfers involving With-Profits business. His appointment has been approved by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

You can write to us at Prudential, Annuities Contact Centre, Lancing BN15 8GB or call us on 0345 640 0000. Lines are open 8.30am - 6.00pm, Mon to Fri.

Please note that we can only answer general queries regarding the Transfer. If you have any questions about your policy, unrelated to the Equitable Life Transfer, please call the number detailed on your policy documentation. We might record your call to make sure our service is up to standard.