Share Certificates Lost in Post - Indemnity?

fozzeh

Computershare offer their own countersignatory service...which is why I can't understand why they won't do it.
Also, it wouldn't be financial advice. It would be giving you options of possibilities you could choose, but not advice.

barak

dimtim wrote: »

The share certificate clearly has a significant intrinsic value when lost so surely it was negligent for Computershare to send it out ordinary mail?

As has been said, share certificates are always [in my experience] sent by ordinary mail "at the shareholder's risk". If they are reported as lost immediately after they should have been received by the shareholder, they will be replaced at no cost.

Rollinghome's suggestion to "contact a decent old-fashioned stockbroker and have them sort it all out" sounds like a good idea to me - at least consult one initially to see what reaction you get.

fozzeh

barak wrote: »

As has been said, share certificates are always [in my experience] sent by ordinary mail "at the shareholder's risk". If they are reported as lost immediately after they should have been received by the shareholder, they will be replaced at no cost.

...I would love to see that idea in practice. As soon as the certificate is ordered (regardless of state), it is the customers liability as stated in their companies Articles of Association...and nearly all companies will have this in it.

barak wrote: »

Rollinghome's suggestion to "contact a decent old-fashioned stockbroker and have them sort it all out" sounds like a good idea to me - at least consult one initially to see what reaction you get.

:cool:

barak

fozzeh wrote: »

...I would love to see that idea in practice. As soon as the certificate is ordered (regardless of state), it is the customers liability as stated in their companies Articles of Association...and nearly all companies will have this in it.

fozzeh - you appear to be 'in the business' so I can't argue with your experience. I admit that it's only happened to me once, so either I must have been lucky, or perhaps there was a general problem with issuing those particular certificates.

I think what shareholders don't understand is why having their name on the share register is not proof of ownership of shares, even when the registrar advises that no transfer of those shares by anyone else can take place. It's obviously more complicated than it seems!

I hope you are able to give some helpful advice to dimtim.

Thrugelmir

Due to the value of the shares in question. You may need to approach either a specialist broker or insurance company for a "surety bond".

This won't be cheap, possibly costing 2% or 3% of the value of the holding. In effect a one off insurance premium.

fozzeh

barak wrote: »

I hope you are able to give some helpful advice to dimtim.

I'd probably be able to look into it for him if he's interested but I'd need details he probably may not want to post on a forum. I'll await a PM if he returns.

lemming-11

This sounds to me like the kind of "reader's problem" some newspaper financial columns might like to get their teeth into. One that comes to mind is jessicainvestigates in the consumertips section of the Telegraph (some pages are viewable online). But I don't know what their normal time scales are.

Sir_Lunchalot

Afraid that it sounds fairly standard practice to me - although usually there will be a bank or insurer who is prepared to countersign the indemnity. Registrars have a 'floor limit' and it sounds as if you mum's shares are above this.

In my view your best bet would be either :
- to ask Computershare to put you in touch direct with the insurer they use - I did this for a client a few years ago and the insurer was prepared to offer a one-off premium. As you are above Computershare's 'floor limit' you need to deal with the insurer direct; or
- write to Unilever - try the Company Secretary - and ask for their help.

In either event it's not really Computershare's fault - they are just doing what they are contracted by Unilever to do.

catz1ct

Actually yeah you probably are better off going to the company direct as Computershare will listen to them.

They do have a list of insurance companies & banks that offer a countersignature service but they wont give it out as they deem it as giving financial advice but if you badger the company (unilever) a bit they will probably get on the back of Computershare and they might tell you then.

Muhasib

barak wrote: »

As has been said, share certificates are always [in my experience] sent by ordinary mail "at the shareholder's risk". If they are reported as lost immediately after they should have been received by the shareholder, they will be replaced at no cost.

Rollinghome's suggestion to "contact a decent old-fashioned stockbroker and have them sort it all out" sounds like a good idea to me - at least consult one initially to see what reaction you get.

Barak - A relative of mine is also trying to get a letter of indemnity from Computershare at the moment as they had a new share certificate issued in December following an inheritance. As soon as it appeared the the new certificate with the change of name was lost in the post they contacted Computershare who wanted a payment of £35 so this isn't done for free even if notified immediately.
However a further issue is that they now sent back their form as they won't accept the bank signature and stamp (from NatWest) and have advised that my relative pay £83 so that Computershare can waive this requirement - is this just another quick profit for them?