New rules come in to force on Friday to regulate the pre-paid funerals market and make sure the companies have sufficent assets to pay for all of the funerals promised.
Pre-pay funeral plans allow someone to pay for their funeral in advance of their death at today's prices and enables them to choose their own funeral exactly as they want it, from the type of coffin to the music played at the service. The plans are particularly popular with older people, as they have the relief of knowing that they are not burdening their children with the expense when they are grieving.
Up to now, the pre-pay funeral plans market has not been regulated, meaning there is no watchdog and if a firm goes bust, consumers are not guaranteed any money back. But from the end of this week, if a funeral plan provider does not meet the requirements set by the FCA, they will no longer be allowed to sell plans or carry out funerals.
Read more: Safe Hands customers warned they will lose most of their cash after firm collapsed
The tightening up of the market comes in the wake of the collapse of Safe Hands, which collapsed into administration in March - leaving around 45,000 customers high and dry. Heartbroken pensioners have been told they can only expect to get around 10% of the cost of their plan back. Safe Hands had applied for FCA authorisation but withdraw this in February.
In advance of Friday, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a list of funeral plan providers who will not be authorised and has warned people not to take out new plans with them.
A notice on the FCA website states: "From 29 July 2022, only funeral plan providers that we’ve authorised, or their Appointed Representatives (intermediaries who can distribute and sell their plans) may sell new funeral plans. The following firms will not be authorised to sell new funeral plans after 29 July and you should not buy a new plan from them. If you already have a plan with one of these firms, you should get in touch with them to find out what is happening to your plan. Your options might include receiving a refund, or your plan may be transferred to another provider. See below for specific details."
The providers are:
- Bristol Memorial Woodlands FP
- Capital Life Funeral Planning Ltd
- Empathy UK Funeral Plans Ltd
- Eternal Peace Funeral Plans Ltd
- Fox Milton and Co Ltd, trading as Unique Funeral Plans
- Mairi Urquhart & Son Ltd
- Maplebrook Funeral Plans Limited
- Pride Planning Limited
- Rest Assured Funeral Plans Limited
- Seasons Personal Funeral Plans limited
- Silver Clouds Later life planning Limited
- SJP Lichfield Limited
- Sovereign Lifecare
The new regulations will provide existing customers – and future buyers of plans – with reassurances they didn't have previously, such as protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if the provider goes bust, and the ability to seek redress from the Financial Ombudsman Service if things go wrong.
The shortfall from Safe Hands collapse is believed to be in the region of £65m, although it could be higher. Although the administrator is likely to offer alternative funeral arrangements from other companies, customers will have to pay for them.
ChronicleLive readers who had bought plans were left distraught when Safe Hands went under. Retired miner Tom Pringle, 86, of Castletown, Sunderland, and his late wife, Bessie, took out plans in 2017, when Bessie was diagnosed with dementia. Ex-miner Tom said that he and Bessie had paid a total of £7,190 to cover both their funerals, and thought the investment would take their pressure off their son and daughter when the time came.
Bessie sadly died on October 3 2021, so Tom was able to claim on the policy for her funeral, but he says the uncertainty of what has happened to the money for his funeral is causing him a lot of worry. "The irony is that all over the plan is the statement 'You'll always be in Safe Hands,' when as it turns out, that couldn't be further from the truth," he said.
Another reader Jean, of Winlaton, who doesn't want to use her real name, who took out a Safe Hands plan with her husband after she lost her job due to ill health eight years ago. "Money is very tight here, but we at least thought that as our funerals had been paid for and there wouldn't be a drastic financial issue if the worse came to the worst. We are both extremely worried as we are struggling enough to pay our normal bills and do not have any further spare funds to help us if anything happens," she said.
Her concerns were shared by another reader Susan, from South Shields, who said: "Safe Hands liquidation has caused immense distress for myself and my husband as we both have separate funeral plans with the company. We are aged 65 and 68 and are both retired and losing this amount of money is shattering to us."
Read more:
- Cost of living: Old-fashioned money-saving tips - how many do you do?
- Your rights if you can't travel due to planned rail strikes this month
- DWP mistake means 40,000 surviving families may be owed thousands from parents' pension
- Amazon Alexa could mimic voices of dead family members 'to make memories last'
- DVLA makes major change in driving licence law to speed up medical questionnaire process
