4 March 2010
During 2008 we identified a number of errors in the prices of some of our funds that are available through Standard Life's range of pensions and investment products.
Since that time, we have conducted a rigorous review of all our internal and external funds and the fund prices available.
The review of all our internal funds is now complete and impacted policies have been corrected. We are continuing to review some of our external fund links:
Pension funds
The review of our external pension fund links is now complete and we have updated our published prices for these funds. Around 10 funds account for the majority of policies impacted.
We have corrected the majority of records for customers impacted by errors in our external pension fund links. Those remaining are more complex cases which we aim to have corrected by the end of March 2010.
Life funds
The review of our external life fund links is now complete and we have updated our published prices for these funds.
We have started correcting records for customers impacted by errors in our external life fund links and expect to complete this work by the end of March 2010.
Impact on customers
We are in the process of correcting all of our records for those customers impacted and in order to treat all customers fairly, will correct records putting customers back into the position they would have been in had the errors not occurred.
The impact on customers will depend on whether the fund price used to buy or sell units was priced too high or too low. Depending on the type of error and type of transaction, the customer could either have too few or too many units or their existing units could have been over or under valued.
Around 60% of those already corrected required an adjustment of less than £25, with around 20% requiring an adjustment of less than £1.
We are writing to customers who have received incorrect documentation and who will see an increase or decrease of more than £25 at the date of correction. The letter will notify them of the error and include details of their fund holdings.
We are also writing to customers who have closed their policy or policies and been underpaid by £10 or more.
Since these errors have come to light, we have put in place further rigorous controls and will continue to monitor and review our processes to minimise the likelihood of this happening again.
I regret this issue has arisen and apologise for any inconvenience we have caused. Standard Life remains committed to providing our customers with the levels of service they expect. Customers or advisers can contact us on our dedicated numbers. (Calls may be recorded/monitored to help improve customer service. Call charges may vary.)
Individual Pensions
0845 279 8871
SIPP
0845 272 6646
Group Pensions
0845 279 8873
Life
0845 279 8872
John Gill
Managing Director, Customer Service Division
