Consumer group Fairer Finance is today calling on the new Government to open a public inquiry into the pre-paid funeral plan schemes that collapsed in the run up to full FCA regulation of the sector in 2022.
Fairer Finance has campaigned and fought on behalf of over 70,000 consumers who lost millions of pounds when Safe Hands and One Life pre-paid funeral plans went bust after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulated the industry in 2022.
Funeral plans are designed to allow people to set money aside during their lives, to help their families pay for a funeral when they die. Providers have needed approval to operate from the FCA, giving consumers greater protection. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) opened its investigation into Safe Hands in October 2023.
The BBC Investigations team has today revealed that plan-holders were owed an estimated £70.6m – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cydvmdmlm6po
James Daley, managing director of Fairer Finance, the consumer group, commented:
“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 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.”
Over the years, Fairer Finance has campaigned for better regulation and oversight to protect consumers and has set up a Facebook group – One Life Funeral Plan Victims – to support consumers on how to make and escalate their complaints. Fairer Finance’s 2017 report “Is the prepaid funeral plan market working well for consumers?” – https://www.fairerfinance.com/campaigns/funeral-plans – was the catalyst for the Treasury’s decision to bring the sector under full FCA regulatory supervision last year.
