Yzabelle Bostyn
THE closure of Iberian Funeral Plans without any communication to customers is both a shocking and distressing abuse of the expat community, writes the Olive Press.
When people make the decision to move abroad, they often put their trust in their fellow countrymen once touching down in a foreign land.
That’s exactly what the customers of Iberian did when they signed up to funeral plans with Stephen George Nelson’s company.
Photo: The Olive Press
Eager to make things as easy as possible for family at home should the worst happen, they took out plans to ensure that if they passed away, everything would be sorted for their loved ones.
Little did they know, Nelson reportedly cared more about living a jet set lifestyle than the grief – and hard earned cash – of hundreds of expats.
The Olive Press has spoken to dozens of people who have lost thousands to Iberian Funeral Plans, but that isn’t the worst part.
As if grieving for a lost family member was not hard enough, now people are having to figure out how to come up with cash for new funeral services and try to get their original investments back.
Photo: The Olive Press
Unfortunately, Spain has failed to regulate such businesses and therefore only those using trustee backed bank accounts, which are also regulated by the UK’s FCA should be trusted.
In the worst case scenario, some expats have even been left unable to carry out services for their deceased loved ones.
Fighting this disaster in the courts will likely cost a pretty penny, not one many of those affected by this incident have to spare.
Although it is not yet known for certain the context in which Iberian Funeral Plans ended, it is clear no contingency plans were put in place to protect their loyal customers in their hour of need.
Many are now left without any cash to purchase new plans and feel ‘deeply untrusting’ of any other companies.
