Unclaimed share dividends

duncanda · 15 April 2008 at 4:28PM

Interested to know if other people have been approached with this. I recently got a letter from Capita Tracing Solutions saying that I had unclaimed dividends (small amount of money) from National Grid or an associated group company and that they would provide the funds for a fee of 15% + VAT. I've lived at the same address for 20 years, never changed my name and have continued to receive dividends from all my shares. So I called National Grid and sure enough they say I didn't cash a dividend cheque sent out in August 2005. They would reissue the cheque for a flat fee of £12 (cheaper than Capita Tracing Solutions). I cannot recall receiving a cheque and would have cashed it if I had. I guess it could have got lost in the post. They say they sent it, I can't prove that I didn't receive it and they want £12 to reissue it. Doesn't seem right. Guess who the National Grid share registrar is; Capita Share Registrars!

Meltdown_2 · 15 April 2008 at 5:39PM

see
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=842125

duncanda · 16 April 2008 at 12:40PM

Thanks. I followed the link. It would be interesting to know how many people had received this letter from Capita Tracing Solutions, because that would tell us how many hadn't cashed the cheques. Or maybe hadn't received them in the first place!

Lad · 17 April 2008 at 11:01PM

Hi duncanda,

I also received one of these letters from Capita Tracing. Like you, I'm not sure why I had the letter as I'm sure I received all my dividends and was a bit wary. What were the contact details you used to contact National Grid to confirm what was owed to you and when? If you made your claim through National Grid rather than Capita Tracing, what was the procedure you followed?

Thanks

duncanda · 18 April 2008 at 1:25AM

Hi Lad

I called the shareholders contact number which I got from the National Grid UK website. The process is to send a letter to Capita Registrars with your shareholder reference and a cheque for £12 and an explanation that you require payment of the August 2005 dividend. I decided that applying for the dividend through Capita Tracing seemed a more efficient process and completed the form. As my fee through Capita Tracing was only £2 more than through Capita Registrars I went for this. Hope this helps.

IvanOpinion · 18 April 2008 at 7:43AM

Not Capita but ComputerShare recently sent me a letter saying I had unclaimed dividends and it would cost £12 to get a cheque reissued. On phoning them I found they were only worth £15 (ish) ... not worth the effort

Ivan

Lad · 19 April 2008 at 6:30PM

Thanks duncanda. Just to make sure, is the National Grid number you called 0870 242 2379? Just one more thing, did you put your date of birth on the form you sent back to Capita Tracing? I know it said it was optional but I just wandered whether I should or not.

Thanks

treacletoffee_2 · 13 May 2008 at 11:12PM

My mother has also received one of the Capita letters offering to 'trace' her dividends, and quoting a hefty fee for their services. She contacted the National Grid today and explained that she has never ever received any kind of information about dividends from them before. She told them that she did not feel that she should have to pay any charges to receive her own money. National Grid have agreed to pay out the dividend with no charges other than postage! Worth challenging fees, obviously!

niknoknoo_2 · 19 June 2008 at 9:48PM

My boyfriend's grandfather has received a letter regarding unclaimed dividends and he's asked me to sort if out for him. How did you get on with reclaiming your money?

Capita are asking for £70 of the £400ish he is owed which seems a bit steep to me, especially for a service he didn't ask for. If I can save him some money I will make the necessary calls but would appreciate any advice you could give me from your experiences first to save him any aggrevation.

Thanks

Reestit_Mutton · 20 June 2008 at 7:55AM

niknoknoo wrote: »

My boyfriend's grandfather has received a letter regarding unclaimed dividends and he's asked me to sort if out for him. How did you get on with reclaiming your money?

Capita are asking for £70 of the £400ish he is owed which seems a bit steep to me, especially for a service he didn't ask for. If I can save him some money I will make the necessary calls but would appreciate any advice you could give me from your experiences first to save him any aggrevation.

Thanks

Hi,

I received one of these letters also. In my case the dividend is only approx. £50 so their 15% + VAT fee comes in at under £10. While National Grid might consider reissuing the missing cheque for free (by no means certain), the time and effort to sort this out is worth more than £10 to me so it's actually more cost-effective for me to just pay the tracing company their fee, sit back and wait for my dividend cheque to be reissued.

Reestit Mutton

dunker1 · 2 July 2008 at 11:50AM

Hi guys, i have just received a letter from Capita Tracing Solutions also. It states i have an unclaimed cash amount from a takeover of Amstrad a while back by Sky Digital. They are asking for 15% commision which will amount to a fair sum so i would like to see if i can go direct and avoid paying this high fee. I wasnt expecting this news so could look at it as a bonus but then if i can contact Sky and arrange myself then i feel its worth the effort.
Any advice from anyone here or shall i just go ahead and phone Sky ?

Unclaimed share dividends

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