Adam Stephens and Kevin Ley of Evelyn Partners LLP have been appointed as joint administrators of controversial life insurance broker Dead Happy.
Leicester-based Dead Happy was founded in 2013 and grew to a revenue of £2.5m by 2023, with more than 25,000 active customer policies.
The administrators are working with the underwriting insurers to ensure that all customer policies transfer back to the insurers with minimal interruption to customers. As part of this process the business will continue to trade on a limited basis, with certain employees kept on to assist the administrators with their work.
Adam Stephens, partner at Evelyn Partners and joint administrator of Dead Happy, said: “We are pleased to be able to assist with ensuring a continuity of insurance provision for all customers as the business is wound down.
“Evelyn Partners has been working with the Dead Happy management team and major stakeholders to enable a smooth transition for customers.
“We thank Dead Happy management for their support in this process and look forward to concluding the process with a positive outcome.”
The news follows provocative marketing tactics at the firm, with public outrage at the beginning of 2023 over an ad featuring serial murderer, Harold Shipman.
Dead Happy included a picture of Shipman in social media ads with the overlaying text: “LIFE INSURANCE … Because you never know who your doctor might be.”
Shipman is estimated to have murdered between 215 and 260 of his patients.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld complaints against the business, saying in a statement that the adverts “trivialised and made light of the murders committed by Harold Shipman, such that they were likely to cause both serious and widespread offence to those who saw them.”
