Collapsed funeral firm payments ‘a slap in the face’

People who lost thousands of pounds after the collapse of a pre-paid funeral firm have hit out at the “tiny” sums they are set to be repaid after three years of waiting.

Some 46,000 people invested in a fund to cover the future cost of their funerals with Safe Hands Plans Ltd before the company fell into administration in 2022.

The administrator for Safe Hands, FRP Advisory, has said planholders could receive initial repayments – of between 8.5p and 12.5p for every pound they lost – by the end of June.

“Getting some money back is better than nothing – but it’s a slap in the face,” Denise Hudson, who shelled out nearly £2,500, said.

The 58-year-old, from Derby, paid for a Safe Hands plan in 2017 after seeing the firm advertised on television, and said she thought her investment was “foolproof”.

She is among planholders who are owed an estimated £70.6m in total.

A major fraud investigation into the dealings of Safe Hands, and its parent company, SHP Capital Holdings Ltd, was launched in October 2023.

In October last year, in an update to creditors, FRP Advisory said there would be repayments.

Then, on 3 January, administrators confirmed planholders will get some money back – adding what people will get back is above the rate of 1p to 10p per each pound lost in typical administration cases.

But Ms Hudson said: “We paid in full. We need the full money back.

“We put our trust in people and we have all been let down.

“Everyone will still lose an awful lot.”

Ms Hudson said she had to deal with the death of her mother Daisy and brother Rupert in 2024 as she was trying to get her money back.

“[Mum] had a brilliant funeral plan and that saved us a lot of time, everything was set out,” she said.

“I thought that is what would happen with me.

“Nobody would have had to go to any trouble, everything would have been sorted out – but that wasn’t to be.”

She accused Safe Hands’s bosses of doing “an underhanded, ruthless thing”.

“It’s appalling they could take people’s hard-earned savings,” she added.

“I did think I had done everything right. I did do my homework.

“I felt embarrassed more than anything else – that I’d handed my money over and lost it. Now just anger is left.”

Since July 2022, pre-paid funeral providers have required approval to operate from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Safe Hands was one of dozens of companies operating in the previously unregulated sector, and collapsed four months before the measures came in.

In 2017, Sandie and David Beatty, from Bingham in Nottinghamshire, paid Safe Hands £3,395 to cover the funeral costs for the first of them to die.

Mrs Beatty, 73, said they felt “angry, disappointed, sick” when the firm collapsed.

“Compared to what we put in, what we’ll get back is a tiny amount,” she said.

“When we get it, it might be enough to buy a pizza, and we’ll have a little party.

“For us, it’s not about the money now. We just want someone to be held to account.

“Our money went somewhere.”

Mr Beatty, 80, said: “There’s nothing we can do about it. We want justice but realistically we won’t get our money back.

“People have been taken for a ride and that stings.”

Aimee Geary, 50, from Anstey in Leicestershire, paid £3,000 to Safe Hands in 2017.

The NHS worker said she took out the plan because she thought funeral costs would rise in the future.

“I felt quite happy,” Ms Geary said. “Other people thought I was young [to be planning my funeral].

“They thought I was mad. I’m very organised, and I didn’t want anyone else to have a job when I’m not here.

“It’s sad that you try to plan something and it has been taken away from you.”

She was told, in 2022, she would probably get £1 out of every £100 back.

“I’m disappointed,” she added. “Somebody else has to now find the money and arrange my funeral when I’m not here because I would never buy another [funeral plan].”

Heather Mould, 77, and her partner Mike took out Safe Hands plans in 2017 – each paying £3,500.

Mrs Mould, from Allington in Lincolnshire, said: “It was quite a loss when you are on a pension.

“We were told we might get back 10p in the pound. It’s something, but it’s not a lot.

“I felt let down but we were pleased to find out before either of us had died so we could arrange something else.”

FRP told the BBC the Safe Hands administration case had been “complex” and had required extensive legal action both in the UK and abroad – including in the Cayman Islands – to trace funds that are due to creditors.

It said it had so far recovered £11.4m for planholders and was focused on getting the best return for them.

FRP said it was “working towards” making an initial distribution to planholders before the end of the second financial quarter in June 2025, and had ringfenced a minimum of £1.6m to that end.

“While we understand the current estimated return of 8.5p to 12.5p in the pound still represents a significant loss to planholders, it’s important to note this exceeds the typical returns in administration cases, where unsecured creditors usually receive between 1p to 10p in the pound,” a spokesperson said.

The administrator said its continuing efforts were running parallel to the ongoing Serious Fraud Office (SFO) investigation.

The spokesperson added: “We fully understand and deeply sympathise with the distress Safe Hands planholders are experiencing.

“The loss of funeral plan savings has created significant worry for many families, and we take our responsibility to recover funds for planholders extremely seriously.”

The SFO confirmed it was progressing an active criminal investigation into alleged fraud by Safe Hands Plans Limited and its parent company SHP Capital Holdings Limited.

A spokesperson said: “We recognise there is significant public interest in this case and are committed to sharing further information as soon as possible.”

Both former owners of Safe Hands – David Milson and Richard Philip Wells – were contacted for comment by the BBC but have not responded.