Thousands Still in Financial Limbo Two Years After Safe Hands Funeral Plan Collapse
More than 46,000 customers are still waiting for answers and compensation after Safe Hands Plans Ltd, a pre-paid funeral firm, went bust two years ago. Among them are Margaret and David Fee, a pensioner couple from Ratby, Leicestershire, who lost their life savings in the scandal.
Couple’s Pension Wiped Out by Funeral Plan Collapse
Margaret and David, both 78, paid £2,745 each from David’s pension back in 2015 to secure funeral plans they hoped would ease their family’s burden. But Safe Hands went into administration in March 2022—just before new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules kicked in.
Despite the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) launching an investigation last October, the Fees have seen nothing back. “We never thought we’d be in this position to pay off something monthly again,” says Margaret. “Now, there’s nothing left for treats.”
Customers were offered cheaper transfer plans with Dignity or the Co-op—at half the original price. The Fees took one plan upfront on David’s pension and set up monthly payments for the other, leaving them financially exposed.
Investigation Drags On with No Payout
FRP Advisory, the administrators, have issued four progress reports but have yet to return any funds, despite claiming “substantial progress” in their latest update from May. The SFO probe into Safe Hands’ catastrophic collapse rolls on, but victims remain in limbo.
Wider Fallout Sparks Calls for Public Inquiry
Gill Marshall, a customer from Grantham, Lincolnshire, paid £4,000 for her Safe Hands plan after the turmoil of affording her husband’s sudden funeral in 2012. Now, like thousands, she’s left empty-handed.
“I just didn’t want my children to be in that position,” Marshall told us. “Now, I’m left with nothing.”
Consumer group Fairer Finance demands a public inquiry, highlighting that warnings were made to the Treasury and FCA as far back as 2017. Critics say regulators were slow to act, leaving a million-plus customers unprotected.
The FCA defends itself, saying it had limited power over unregulated firms then, while the Treasury pointed to a 2023 ban on selling pre-paid funeral plans without FCA authorisation as a protective step.
Millions Lost Offshore & Missing Funds Mystery
Documents from FRP reveal Safe Hands squirreled away £45.1 million in the Cayman Islands, shielding it from UK oversight. It also loaned £3.5 million to former owner Malcolm David Milson in 2018 with no repayment terms. Attempts to contact Milson and ex-owner Richard Philip Wells hit dead ends.
Lara Gee, a finance expert from Nottingham University, slammed Safe Hands for failing to prepare for new rules despite being involved in industry talks since 2017.
“They had time to align their investments like others did. That they didn’t raises serious questions,” she said.
Margaret Fee blasts the firm’s handling and calls for criminal charges. “They’ve caused so much pain to such a vulnerable age group. They should be criminally prosecuted.”
With the government changing, Fairer Finance vows to push harder for a public inquiry—demanding justice for thousands left out in the cold by this grim financial fiasco.
