Campaigner close to forcing vote on Standard Life demutualisation

The threat of demutualisation is looming larger over Standard Life, as support for the carpetbagger trying to convert the insurer into a public company continues to grow.

David Stonebanks, a retired lecturer from Stevenage, has used the internet and email to amass the signatures of 1,506 policyholders, far in excess of the 1,000 required to call a special general meeting of the company. He claims that at least 200 forms are arriving at his house each week.

He is waiting, however, to collect more than 2,000 signatures before handing them over to the company, for fear that it may try to reject a significant number. He expects to have 2,000 within the next two weeks. If more than 1,000 signatures are accepted by the company as legitimate, Europe's largest mutually-owned life assurer must call a meeting within three months to vote on conversion.

Mr Stonebanks wants a vote on demutualisation to take place at the same time as the company's annual general meeting, set for 6 April. This, he says, will save the company about £2m in costs. But Standard seems unwilling to co-operate, saying a vote on demutualisation is "too significant" to fall within the scope of a normal AGM and warrants a separate meeting.

The last time Standard was pressed to vote on its mutual status, in 2000, a meeting was called within nine weeks of receiving signatures collected by the then campaign leader, Fred Woollard.

This is the second time Mr Stonebanks has tried to stage a vote on mutuality. The company dismissed 1,200 signatures collected by Mr Stonebanks last summer on the grounds that the wording of the request did not satisfy legal technicalities.

With the help of a barrister, Mr Stonebanks has redrafted his form, which is now very similar to that used by Mr Woollard. To change the company's status, Mr Stonebanks needs to win 75 per cent of the vote. Mr Woollard managed to secure only 54 per cent in 2000.

Mr Stonebanks is confident that many thousands of policyholders, faced with a shortfall on their endowment policies, will vote for demutualisation if given the chance. He believes the business could be worth up to £7bn, delivering windfalls of up to £3,000 to its 2.6 million policyholders. "Policyholders own the business, so I don't think I'm asking for anything that I don't already own," he said.

Standard yesterday reiterated its commitment to mutuality. "The directors cannot see any business case for the company changing its mutual status and the majority of our membership want it to stay mutual," a spokesman said.