Thousands of pounds feared lost for customers as funeral company collapses
A Black Country woman who had paid out more than £3,000 towards the costs of her funeral fears she may have lost it all and her family may now have to fund it instead.
Wakefield-based Safe Hands Plans went into administration on March 23.
Debbie Edwards, aged 55, from the Bilston area, took out a pre-paid funeral plan with the company through an intermediary firm in Willenhall in February 2020.
She said: "I paid £250 down and was putting in £59 a month. Each month I was also looking at paying in extra to make sure it would all be paid up before my death. I've paid out nearly £3,400 in total and was only about £200 short of the final amount," explained Debbie, who has liver damage.
She had been told she had only a 35 per cent chance of survival and wanted to make sure her family, including a grown-up son, did not face a big financial burden when she died.
"I couldn't believe it when I heard Safe Hands had gone into administration.
"I've been told I may not get anything back.This has just made everything worse including my depression," she said.
Debbie has contacted the administrators of the company, who were appointed after a period of severe financial challenge which had left the business unsustainable in its current form.
The company has ceased to trade but has been assisting current plan holders with contingency funeral planning services with the assistance of a third-party provider.
Sutton Coldfield-based Dignity Funeral has agreed to provide existing customers with funeral planning services for a period of 14 days from March 23. The administrators are exploring options for a long term solution,
All plan holders have been encouraged to make claims as creditors in the administration, which Debbie has done.
She has been told the company does not have sufficient funds to enable refunds to be issued to all plan holders in full.
"I have not been sleeping properly since I heard what had happened. It is a lot of money to lose," said Debbie.
