THOUSANDS of people in Hampshire could be missing out on compensation from the Government.

Three county MPs have called on any constituents who had pensions with Equitable Life to act now to ensure they get compensation.

The near collapse of the firm in 2000 left hundreds of thousands of policyholders out of pocket.

A payment scheme was set up in 2011 to pay up to £1.5billion to victims and £600 million has already been paid out. But many people have moved without giving their new address and an alarming number seem to be unaware that they are entitled to a payment.

The Treasury is planning to shut down the scheme in 2015, with many pensioners at risk of remaining unpaid.

Nationally about 200,000 people could be missing out on compensation, and MPs in Hampshire have called on residents to act now.

More than 400 people in John Denham’s Southampton Itchen constituency alone could be missing out.

The Labour MP said: “Although 450,000 people have now received a compensation cheque, about 20 per cent remain untraced and if people don’t get their claim in they will miss out”.

In Caroline Nokes’ Southampton North and Romsey constituency the figure is also thought to be around 400.

The Conservative MP said: “It would be such a shame if having worked all their lives, these pensioners miss out on the money that has been allocated to them.”

Eastleigh’s Liberal Democrat MP Mike Thornton is also urging his constituents to find out whether they are owed compensation.

More than 400 of them could be in line for payments.

If you think you have an eligible policy but have not yet heard from the scheme, you can first confirm that your policy is eligible for the scheme by telephoning the Scheme's “Policychecker” service on 0300 0200150. Or write to Equitable Life Payment Scheme, PO Box 4110, Glasgow G58 1EL quoting your full name, address and your Equitable Life policy number in all correspondence.