(Adds comment from Legal & General, updates shares)
Oct 17 (Reuters) - Britain's financial watchdog has askedStandard Life Plc to review whether it gave customers inpoor health enough information when it sold them pensionproducts, the insurer said on Monday.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has told the firm toreview its sales of annuities sold since July 2008 to see ifcustomers eligible for higher payouts because of a shorter lifeexpectancy were properly informed about their entitlement,Standard Life said in a statement.
The request follows an industry wide review by the FCA,which on Friday said that a "small number" of insurance firmscould be subject to penalties for their selling practices.
Standard Life said it was not possible to estimate reliablythe level of redress it might have to pay as a result of thereview, but that it had made a provision in its 2015 accountsfor potential customer compensation.
The FCA said on Friday that while it had found noindustry-wide problem of annuity mis-selling, some firms mayhave to pay compensation to customers who should have been solda different type of annuity -- a form of pension that pays outuntil death.
In cases where a customer would have been eligible for an"enhanced annuity", lost income ranged from 120 to 240 pounds($150-300) a year.
Standard Life, which has been a participant in FCA's review,said it was possible that the financial impact of anycompensation may be mitigated by its professional indemnityinsurance.
Standard Life's shares closed down 3.7 percent at 330 pence,making it the third worst performer in London's FTSE 100 index.
The FCA did not disclose which insurers had taken part inits industrywide review.
A spokesman for Legal & General said the firm was"pleased" with the outcome of the review.
Aviva and Prudential, two other majorproviders of annuities, did not respond to a request forcomment. (Reporting by Esha Vaish in Bengaluru; and Carolyn Cohn inLondon; Editing by Rachel Armstrong, Greg Mahlich)
Prudential (PRU)
Aviva (AV.)
Legal & General (LGEN)