Consumer groups are calling for a public inquiry into the pre-paid funeral plan industry after the collapse of Safe Hands Plans Ltd left thousands of British families without their money or funeral coverage.
Safe Hands, which folded in 2022 under unclear circumstances, left around 46,000 people financially stranded after purchasing plans designed to cover funeral costs.
Despite the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) launching a criminal investigation into alleged fraud by Safe Hands and its parent company SHP Capital Holdings Limited in October 2023, progress has been slow, and no action has been taken against the company’s executives.
Consumer watchdog Fairer Finance is now urging the new government to launch a public inquiry, not only into Safe Hands but also into broader industry practices following the failure of another funeral plan firm, One Life. The group claims both the Treasury and the Financial Services Authority, now the Financial Conduct Authority, ignored repeated warnings about these companies, leaving consumers vulnerable. James Daley, managing director of Fairer Finance, told SomersetLive:
“It is vital that we have a full public inquiry into the failures of government and regulators that allowed so many consumers to lose millions. The substantial losses faced by funeral plan-holders were entirely avoidable. Indeed, when the Treasury legislated to first protect funeral plan customers in 2001, it was its stated intention to ensure that customers’ money would be safe.
“Sadly, poorly drafted legislation and a lack of clarity for the Financial Services Authority/Financial Conduct Authority created the conditions for funeral plan firms to play fast and loose with customers’ money.
Both the Treasury and the FCA were warned about potential issues with Safe Hands as early as 2017, but no action was taken. If an intervention had happened then, the sale to Safe Hands and the alleged fraud that followed may never have occurred.
Now, two years after the collapse of Safe Hands, while the Serious Fraud Office is conducting a criminal investigation, there has still been no examination of the legislative and regulatory failures that contributed to this disaster. No one has been held accountable, and tens of thousands of vulnerable individuals remain out of pocket.”
