Former employees of United Security Life Insurance Company have lost their bid to have pension money they paid into a compulsory plan between 1987 and 1992 returned to them.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the former employees have to line up like other creditors and receive the provisional liquidators pay out a schedule of between 24-28 cents to the dollar.

Sources say that cheques for that pay out are already in the mail, but staff remain bitter. Some had previously lost the first nine years of pension money that had been sent to the parent company in Trinidad, before the Caribbean company went bust in 1987.

On top of that, the court has ordered that they pay their own legal fees which amount to a further more than $550 per person.

Puisne Judge the Hon. Mr. Justice Ground accepted that employees were forced to pay into the pension plan with their own money, but said he could not differentiate the company obligation to them from the obligations to other creditors.

Mr. Justice Ground said in his written ruling: "I find it hard to distinguish between the position of the employees, who were in effect insuring their own future by the payment of premiums toward the purchase of an eventual annuity, and any other claimants under policies issued by the company.

"I appreciate the argument that the former employees were compelled to contribute, where other claimants had chosen the company to carry their insurance, but I do not think that that is a real distinction for these purposes.

"Accordingly, in this case I do not see that the former employees' claims should be treated any differently from the other claimants in the insolvency, and I would therefore decline any proprietary remedy, and leave them to share in the remaining assets pari passu with the ordinary creditors.'' The liquidators are paying out $640,000 in total, the only money left in the local company which has calculated debts of $2.3 million.

Also out of pocket are two pensioners, in whose favour the court ruled during the same case. The most prominent of the two is 72-year-old Mr. George Monk, who was expecting some $53,000, after retiring with 26 years of service.

It is believed that after losing one house in the insurance company failure, he will also lose almost $39,000 of his $53,000 pension in the pay out.

The court ruled that the two pensioners had a straightforward contractual claim against the company. But he also said: "The pension fund in Trinidad was dissolved and the proceeds distributed some years ago, but the company has nevertheless continued to pay these two gentlemen their pensions as if nothing had happened.

"It may be that, if the company had given proper notice to its pensioners as to the state of the fund in Trinidad, they could have taken steps to protect their rights or prove for a distribution when that fund was dissolved.

"I do not know what that would have achieved, but the point is that they were not given that opportunity because they were lulled by the company into accepting their pension payments direct from the Bermuda branch. In those circumstances I consider the company are bound to continue honouring the liability which they thereby undertook.'' He said the pensioners had the right to be considered as ordinary creditors, meaning that they would receive the same amount per dollar claimed, which was originally set at 27 cents on the dollar, but was said to possibly vary between 24-28 cents on the dollar.