A provider of pre-paid funeral plans has collapsed, placing in doubt the arrangements made by 46,000 customers in advance of their deaths and whether they will get their money back. Wakefield-based Safe Hands had been in discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) before calling in administrators as the watchdog is due to oversee the currently unregulated funeral plan market from July.

However, the firm stopped taking new orders and withdrew its application for FCA authorisation last month. The Joint administrators from FRP Advisory said their appointment "was made by the directors of the company, after a period of severe financial challenge, which has left the business unsustainable in its current form".

Source: SKY BUSINESS