Grieving Scots left with dad's funeral bill after thousands paid to directors 'disappears'
21.01.2023 - 16:53
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
The heartbroken family of a Glasgow pensioner who died suddenly after Christmas have been forced to fork out the bill for his funeral after the pre-paid plan he took out with his local funeral service wasn't processed by the firm.
John Munro sadly passed away at his home on December 29, four years after he and his wife Hellen paid around £3,350 each to McLeans Funeral Service on Alexandra Parade in Dennistoun to cover the funeral costs.
The money was never passed on to funeral plan provider Golden Charter before McLeans went out of business last year, unbeknownst to the family, according to GlasgowLive.
John's son Jonpaul, 36, and his wife Laura, 31, were left to source another funeral director to collect John's body from his property in Royston at short notice and fear other local families could find themselves in the same position.
Laura said: "Both John and Hellen had taken out funeral plans in 2017 and 2018 and paid for them in cash. They were given receipts and a completed application form by McLeans to confirm the transaction. They took the plan out in good faith thinking that everything would be covered in the event of their deaths.
"In October, we found out that the company had gone into administration but we couldn't find any way to get through to them to check what was happening with either of the plans.
"We contacted Golden Charter who the money was supposed to be passed on to and they had no record of either of them. The money has just disappeared.
"When John died suddenly at home, the police told us to contact our funeral director and we had no idea what to do. We had to find everything from scratch.
"Hellen is severely disabled and currently lives in a care home and the sad reality is that she could pass away