Lost Share Certificates

[starrs]

I have somehow managed to misplace a share certificate(s) consisting of 200 Abbey National shares. I have sent an email asking if there is a charge to send out a duplicate certificate. Does anybody know if there is a standard charge that companies are allowed to charge or can they charge what they like. Thanks.

[jennyp]

Abbey National shares were changed to Santander Shares quite a while ago.

[starrs]

Yes jennyp the shares were taken over by Banco Santander a few years ago but my original question still stands. Any ideas? Thanks.

[vicars]

The Registrars keep a record of your name, address and the number of shares you own and can arrange to issue a duplicate certificate if necessary. If you have lost a certificate contact the Registrars as soon as possible so they can put a �stop� on that certificate. Before a replacement certificate can be issued, you may be sent an indemnity to complete should a dispute arise over ownership at a later stage.
Write to:
Abbey Shareholder Services
The Causeway
Worthing
West Sussex
BN99 6DA
They will send you the forms you need to return but may need ID so it may be better to do this via a branch after you have heard from them.
A phone number to get more info if needed is 08457 654 321. Best of luck.

[dzug]

There is normally a charge, not so much for replacing the certificate, but for an insurance indemnity against the reported loss being fraudulent.
They can charge what they want.

If you don't actually need the certificate it could be worth hanging on - sometimes companies are taken over or reorganise their shares and often you get sent the new ones automatically. Only pay when you have to.

[ThePlank]

Back in the increasingly dim & distant past I used to work in the area of lost share certificates.

There are 2 elements of the registrar's charge:
1. A fee for countersigning the indemnity - ie insurance for any fraudulent use of the missing certificate
2. An admin fee

The faq here - http://www.shareview.co.uk/ASP/faq.asp?#LOST_C ERT - gives the rates for Lloyds Shareview. Rather more than I remember but all registrars were pretty much the same then so I guess they're all similar now.

There were some differences however. Sometimes the fees were waived for small shareholdings eg <�500, sometimes there was no admin fee, sometimes the fees were waived for employees, sometimes there was no requirement to get the indemnity countersigned, etc, etc and these exceptions varied from registrar to registrar and company to company so its worth checking.

Its good advice from dzug though to only pay when you need the certificate - in the case of a capital reorganisation you'd be sent a new certificate, although in a takeover you normally need to send the cert in with your offer acceptance form. Also given time the certificate may turn up.

It always felt to me that small shareholders were being fleeced - ie charged a disproportionate amount in relation to the value of their holding. If you need the cert now its worth arguing it out with the registrar on this basis - if you agree to pay for the countersignature you might get them to waive the admin fee - ask to speak to a manager. There also used to be policy guidelines over what fees to waive if a shareholder complained......

Specifically on Abbey National the following looks useful - http://mo

[starrs]

Thanks for all the advice everybody.

I shall drop into the Abbey to see if they can help, if not I guess I will have to deal with Santander directly.

I may just have one more look around the house first.......

Thanks again.