![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0db14d7ca13103666a139cac195102bb-1764345879-1280x720.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nPensioners who paid into a funeral plan for 25 years say they feel \u201crobbed\u201d after the insurer pulled the plug without warning \u2013 wiping out thousands in savings.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of Scots are believed to be affected by the collapse of Maiden LifeF\u00f6rs\u00e4krings\u2019 Family Protection Plan (FPP) \u2013 a long-running credit union life insurance production now being wound up without compensation.<\/p>\n
The plan, first launched in 1999 and withdrawn from sale in 2009, comes to an end on December 1.<\/p>\n
With Maiden Life leaving the market, CMutual say no payout will be made to policyholders.<\/p>\n
The sudden termination has erased decades of careful financial preparation for pensioners \u2013 who have branded the move \u201can injustice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018We\u2019ve been treated like we\u2019re nothing\u2019<\/p>\n
A gran who says she has lost \u00a38,000 in funeral cover after the insurer ditched its policy says she is \u201cabsolutely disgusted\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mary O\u2019Neill, 75, says she and her family are \u201chorrified\u201d at the situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m raging at what they\u2019ve done. I feel as though we\u2019ve been robbed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re off with our money and told us we\u2019re not getting it back. How can that be right? Where has the money gone?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary says her late husband, who was a founding member of the credit union, helped her take out the policy 25 years ago.<\/p>\n
When he died, some of the value helped cover towards his funeral.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe would be appalled if he knew what was going on,\u201d she added. \u201cMy husband and I were both people who would be proud to pay for our funerals and not asked our children for anything. That money is gone now.<\/p>\n
Mary, who has three children and five grandchildren, says many older people she knows are losing sleep over how they will afford their end-of-life costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t care what they do to vulnerable people. Because we\u2019re pensioners, they probably think we won\u2019t be there for that long. They treat us like we don\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/p>\n
She is urging the government to step in and help the affected families.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hoping the powers that be will help us. I\u2019m sure the other members would feel the same way<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just awful. How would they like it if it were their mum and dad? Somebody needs to do something.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maiden Life leaves UK market<\/p>\n
Maiden Life, the UK branch of Sweden-based Maiden Life F\u00f6rs\u00e4krings AB, was appointed the insurer of the FPP in 2022 on a three-year contract.<\/p>\n
In May 2024, Maiden Life informed CMutual, a specialist credit union intermediary which manages the policy, that its parent company was pulling all business from the UK.<\/p>\n
This meant coverage for the FPP would end in May 2025.<\/p>\n
According to Maiden Life, the termination date was extended on several occasions to allow for CMutual to identify another insurer to place the programme with.<\/p>\n
A deadline of November 30 was agreed upon; however, an alternative insurer for FPP policyholders has not been identified.<\/p>\n
\u2018They\u2019ve walked away \u2013 they couldn\u2019t care less\u2019![\"Anne](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/62ae745212342c1db65774f07cd12b8c-1764345896.jpeg\")
STV NewsAnne McAulay STV News<\/p>\n
For Anne McCaulay, the collapse of the plan has left her furious \u2013 and fearful about leaving costs to her family.<\/p>\n
The 75-year-old gran paid in around \u00a35,000 since 2000 \u2013 she says she took out the plan to spare her two sons the burden of funeral expenses.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t want to leave the financial worry to them \u2013 that\u2019s why I took it out. We paid into this for years \u2013 now it\u2019s become evident that there is a huge problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s come as a huge shock.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anne attended several tense meetings at Dalmuir Credit Union as the situation unfolded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe common feeling is that people feel utterly let down. You pay into this policy for years, and we\u2019re not even getting any compensation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Annn said many customers were shocked to learn the plan excluded anyone over the age of 80 \u2013 leaving some of the oldest paying into a policy that became \u201cworthless.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been left with nothing. There\u2019s no compensation. There was talk from about May onward when CMutual were supposed to be going away, looking at alternatives that might come up \u2013 but they didn\u2019t. They were left free to go, \u2018Oh well, there\u2019s nothing we can do about it.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Ann fears she is now too old to secure affordable cover elsewhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho\u2019s going to take you on at a reasonable cost now? There\u2019s nothing out here. We feel abandoned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve just walked away, and they couldn\u2019t care less how it\u2019ll pan out.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Dumbarton](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/6436c375663555fdb2c4936095fe372a-1764350592.jpeg\")
STV NewsDumbarton Credit Union manager Stuart Boyd STV News<\/p>\n
Dumbarton Credit Union manager Stuart Boyd first received an email notifying them of CMutual\u2019s plan to terminate the Family Protection Plan (FPP) in March. They were told by the insurance company that they would be looking at alternative products.<\/p>\n
But he said none of the credit unions he spoke to were aware of the termination clause.<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of the training material we received states there\u2019s a 30-day term clause on the policy. The insurer didn\u2019t make it clear to us. They say you pay your premium, and we cover you for that month, at a month\u2019s notice. We were really shocked.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the insurer first notified them that they were closing the books on the policy in 2009, though existing members would be allowed to continue, and they would honour those payments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was 16 years ago. As far as we are concerned, they knew this wasn\u2019t viable at that point in time. They never did anything to ensure the sustainability of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the wake of the plan\u2019s collapse, Stuart says he has seen first-hand the devastation the news has caused pensioners.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had a member, terminally ill, who asked, \u2018So, it\u2019ll be okay if I die before November 30, my family will be covered?\u2019 The gravity of it is that people feel as if they don\u2019t die before then, they\u2019ve lost their money.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re calling for the insurer to be held accountable, for them to provide funding for vulnerable members, and for the government to step in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018People could be left empty-handed\u2019![\"Douglas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/f362e05e2b5d49dcb9f85455d63db776-1764347894.jpeg\")
STV NewsDouglas McAllister STV News<\/p>\n
Many of those who hold the policy have been paying into it for more than 25 years; however, they are now at risk of being left \u201cempty-handed,\u201d according to MSP Paul Sweeney.<\/p>\n
Sweeney wrote a letter to the Financial Conduct Authority at the end of last month, stating that constituents have been left \u201cdesperately scrambling\u201d for a new policy.<\/p>\n
An estimated 200 people across West Dunbartonshire have been impacted by the move.<\/p>\n
Douglas McAllister, the constituency\u2019s MP, says he has also raised the credit union\u2019s policy termination with the FCA and is working with ministers to investigate alternatives for vulnerable members and push for compensation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to express my outrage and share the anger of my constituents across West Dunbartonshire, members of credit unions who have been paying into an FPP for decades,\u201d he said. \u201cMany have paid in thousands, some over \u00a310,000 across three decades \u2013 and to be served with the news that these policies will be terminated is absolutely shocking.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are elderly and vulnerable constituents who will be left with no cover whatsoever. It\u2019s an absolutely disgraceful decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"'They've](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3a4c0607b50c7f95893fcbb96f0729d1-1763648990.jpeg\")
Adobe Stock\u2018They\u2019ve left us with nothing\u2019: Pensioners furious after insurer axes funeral plan after 25 years of payments Adobe Stock<\/p>\n
At First Minister\u2019s Questions on October 30, John Swinney said he was \u201cvery sympathetic\u201d to those impacted.<\/p>\n
He confirmed that he would make a direct representation to the Financial Conduct Authority, along with the credit union working group.<\/p>\n
The First Minister said: \u201cCredit unions provide an essential foundation in our society, particularly for people who are on low incomes and have low savings levels. It is important that financial security is available to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maiden Life commented: \u201cIn our dealings with CMutual, the interests of their clients and policyholders
have been foremost in our plans.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs part of closing our life business, we ensured we gave CMutual considerable notice to enable them to inform and provide their customers with alternative arrangements.\u201d<\/p>\n
STV News is now on WhatsApp<\/p>\n
Get all the latest news from around the country<\/p>\n
![\"WhatsApp](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/whatsapp-qr.png\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pensioners who paid into a funeral plan for 25 years say they feel \u201crobbed\u201d after the insurer pulled…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[45,49,48,133,131,132],"class_list":{"0":"post-314206","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-finance","12":"tag-personal-finance","13":"tag-personalfinance"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}