SOMEONE MADE A FORTUNE FROM ALL OF THIS MISERY

Thousands out of pocket after Safe Hands goes bust

- BY MARK MCGIVERN

A SHATTERED victim of a funeral plan firm that went bust got a cheque for just £130 as compensation after shelling out thousands.

Elizabeth Boyle, 65, broke down in tears when she received the meagre payout after she prepaid £3340 for her funeral.

She and sister Karen, 62, are among an estimated 5000 Scots to be left devastated after the Safe Hands funeral plan company went into administration.

The firm, in TV adverts with goalie Gordon Banks, vowed to cover funeral costs for those who pay into the plan.

But the firm went bust in 2022 amid a police fraud investigation, with millions of pounds from the plans believed to be invested in offshore funds.

Now the administrators for doomed the company have started paying out tiny sums to those who put money into the plans. Elizabeth, from Beith, Ayrshire, and Karen, from Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, are now demanding to know where the money has gone.

Elizabeth said: "They were called Safe Hands but they are a total disaster. I couldn't believe it when I saw the cheque. I wondered if they put the decimal point in the wrong place, which would still have been a real blow.

"But now I just want someone to tell me where my money has gone because someone has made a fortune from all this misery." The firm went into administration in April 2022 leaving 46,000 customers facing losses worth a combined £83million, according to administrator estimates.