Two charged after collapse of funeral agency Safe Hands affected 46,000 individuals | EUROtoday

Two individuals have been charged following the collapse of a pre-paid funeral agency that left tens of hundreds of individuals out of pocket.

About 46,000 clients misplaced hundreds of kilos when Safe Hands Plans Ltd collapsed in 2022 and went into administration.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has charged two males – Richard Wells and Neil Debenham – with conspiracy to defraud. It stated Wells was the previous director of SHP Capital Holdings Ltd – the dad or mum firm of Safe Hands – with Debenham described as a “fellow senior executive”.

Wells and Debenham are as a result of seem at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 5 February.

The SFO stated the fees of Wells, 39, residing in Spain, and Debenham, 43, of Norwich, have been a “critical step” in its investigation.

Emma Luxton, director of operations, added planholders have been left “exposed, out of pocket and uncertain about their funeral arrangements”.

Since July 2022, pre-paid funeral suppliers have required approval to function from the Financial Conduct Authority.

Safe Hands was considered one of dozens of corporations working within the beforehand unregulated sector, and collapsed 4 months earlier than the measures got here in.

The administrator for Safe Hands, FRP Advisory, initially stated planholders might obtain repayments of between 8.5p and 12.5p for each pound they misplaced by June 2025.

But after a six-month delay, the quantity repaid to these affected by the funeral agency collapse proved to be a lot much less – about 4p for each pound.

Planholders are owed an estimated £70.6m in complete.

Among them are Denise Hudson, from Derby, who paid almost £2,500 for a Safe Hands plan after seeing a TV advert in 2019, and was final yr given a cheque for lower than £100 by directors.

“That was my savings. I gave it in good faith,” she stated.

Hudson instructed the BBC she would possibly “frame” the cheque for £96.50, utilizing it as a reminder to maintain preventing.