ABOUT 2.4 million members of Standard Life are in line for windfalls after the insurer confirmed its plans to float on the London Stock Exchange next year.

The majority of with-profits policy holders will receive free shares in exchange for giving up their membership of the company.

Standard Life has said it is too early to say what the windfalls will be, but analysts have estimated they will be between £500 and £1,000 depending on the age of the policy.

By giving up their membership in the company, with-profits policy holders will no longer have the right to vote at annual meetings, unless they retain their shares, as the company will be owned by its shareholders.

They will also no longer be entitled to so-called benefits of mutuality payments although, in practice, the company no longer makes such payments following the introduction of a reporting regime and a decline in its with-profits fund.

A number of members will not receive free shares and will instead be given cash or policy enhancements.

The group said those members tended to be people who were part of an occupational scheme, or those who lived in countries where there were only a handful of members and it was too expensive or not practical to give them shares.

Standard Life intends to amend its regulations to enable people whose polices mature on October 18 or between then and the date of the special meeting to qualify for free shares, and that issue will also be put to the vote at the meeting.

People whose policies mature before that date will not be eligible for windfalls.

Policy holders who took out a with-profits investment on or after March 31 last year, when the group first announced it planned to go ahead with a demutualisation, will also not receive shares, as the majority signed declarations waiving their right to vote on the proposals and receive compensation for their loss of membership.