The sole director of a pre-paid funeral services provider has been banned from holding any directorship for 12 years after the company faced insolvency amid significant unaccounted customer funds.

Following regulatory actions from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), liquidators were appointed to oversee the affairs of Not For Profit Funeral Plans, prompting investigations into the firm’s financial practices.

During the liquidation process, investigators from Quantuma Advisory found discrepancies totaling £1.7 million in the funds held for the plan-holders. Their findings triggered a report to the Insolvency Service, which subsequently resulted in the disqualification of John Lecomber, the company’s only director, in late 2022, as detailed in a filing to Companies House.

The investigation revealed that Lecomber was responsible for failing to protect customers’ financial contributions—amounting to £2 million received between June 2019 and July 2022. Out of this, only £150,000 was duly deposited into the trust fund, leaving approximately £1.9 million in outstanding funeral plans at the time of liquidation.

Lecomber, 56, who operated the business from Liskeard, Cornwall, also faced criticism for not maintaining proper accounting records or supplying these documents to the liquidators. This lack of transparency hindered the verification of substantial payments made to third parties, including credit card companies and an unknown bank account.

Many affected plan-holders have successfully sought recovery of their funds through chargeback requests with their card providers, as stipulated under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

Kelly Mitchell, managing director at Quantuma and one of the joint liquidators, remarked on the emotional toll this situation has had on vulnerable customers, stating, “It is satisfying to see the director held accountable for his misconduct and prevented from similar actions in the future. Most plan-holders have managed to reclaim their losses through their card providers, and we are pursuing additional avenues to recover funds for creditors with our legal team.”

The FCA’s regulation of the pre-paid funeral sector was triggered by a Treasury review and raised concerns about industry practices, including cold-calling and the safeguarding of customer trust money. The market has seen several firms go into insolvency, prominently Safe Hands Plans, which left approximately 47,000 clients facing a substantial £60 million deficit and is currently under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.

A legal representative for Lecomber reported that he is engaged in discussions with liquidators to reach a settlement regarding the outstanding issues.