Funeral plan gone into administration

penpo

Hi can anyone help. I took out a funeral plan & they have gone into administration I paid by standing order & the bank said I don't qualify for charge back. The company has said I will only receive between 10-20% of my monies back I paid £3,350.00 can this be right?

Adrian_Scope

Hello @penpo. Have you made any progress with this? 
It isn't my area of expertise and if you're still having difficulty I'd recommend looking for professional advice from an agency near you. AdviceLocal is a great place to start for this. 

Unfortunately, it's not uncommon for companies to go into administration and leave their customers in a difficult position. Have you discussed it with your bank to see if there's any advice or options they could recommend? 

Regarding the amount you may receive back from the company, it's my understanding that it would depend on the specific circumstances of the administration and the assets that the company has available. It's possible that you may only receive a small percentage of your payment back, but again, it's worth seeking professional advice to see if there are any other options available to you.

I hope this helps, and I wish you the best of luck in resolving this issue.

Sandy_123

Hi @penpo I've had a little search and came up with this below

What happens if a funeral plan company goes bust?

Access the financial protection offered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (the FSCS)Opens in a new window This means if the funeral provider goes bust, you'll be able to claim compensation for your financial loss.

Adrian_Scope

That's really interesting, thanks @Sandy_123. Do you have a link to where you found it in case it helps penpo?

Sandy_123

Yes I've got the link below and good  luck, please let us know if you are successful 

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/family-and-care/death-and-bereavement/rules-and-regulation-for-a-pre-paid-funeral-plan

penpo

Hi Adrian thank you for your concern. I have joined a group on Facebook that is trying to help people like myself who paid by D/D. Everyone has contacted their local MP and the lady running the group is brilliant updating us all on the situation etc. Please advise anyone connected to safe hands to look it up. 

penpo

Regulation that is covered by the FCA and the FSCS came in from July 2022.  Safe Hands went out of business in March 2022, so before the new regulations.  Therefore, we are not covered.     

Just got this from safehands group what a shame

2oldcodgers

penpo said:

Regulation that is covered by the FCA and the FSCS came in from July 2022.  Safe Hands went out of business in March 2022, so before the new regulations.  Therefore, we are not covered.     

Just got this from safehands group what a shame

Yes that seems the norm when businesses are in liquidation. It takes these types of cases to highlight the lack of financial protection at the time. It is always reaction after action. It really should have been protected from the off but no one actually thought this through at the time.
Is there any action being taken by the police? Seems to me that these payments made ought to have been ringfenced for the protection of the customer. Was there ever any mention by the company that your money was/would be ringfenced?

penpo

In truth I don't know reading all the replies from the financial/government institutions it just seems to be the same old story oh dear what a shame we will make sure different laws will be applied for future use, but as for the victims of safehands not much can be done