ProSearch Scam

CeriB · 9 September 2013 at 8:36PM

Good evening! I received a letter from Prosearch this morning stating that I was owed some cash from Lloyds, they're obviously doing the rounds at the moment!!

devliciously_me · 10 September 2013 at 12:33PM

When Prosearch are involved, ALWAYS go straight to Equiniti

Equiniti Limited, Aspect House, Spencer Road, Lancing, West Sussex, BN99 6DA.
Ask them to update your shareholder record and release all monies due to you. Please note that dividends ( which make up most unpaid monies) are a debt owed to you by the company. This money should be issued free of all cost. Equiniti may try to charge you to obtain you own cash but they use a technicality in charging for a tax statement attached to the payment.

If you dont have, and need, a new share certificate, as for a Letter of Indemnity from Equiniti. There will be a fee for this. Some exceptions to the rule are where a company, such as banco Santander, do not issue share certificates or your holding is in a nominee account.

If you have changed address- send proof. if you dont have proof, dont worry- and dont be bullied into using Prosearch. You will have a record of a previous dividend payment on an old bank statement ( so will Equiniti- get them to check theirs- that would be fun!!!!!), you probably have an old certificate or tax counterfoil. Alternatively, and importantly, if prosearch have already found you and are satisfied that you are the right person, and Equiniti own Prosearch

well it would seem reasonable to encourage them to check your credentials by using the information already collected about you without your consent, wouldnt it???

In some cases, Equiniti have told people that they MUST use Prosearch. This advice is clearly wrong. The responsibility for the management of a share register rests with the company in which you own shares and/or its registrar- not with some 3rd party company that happens to be owned by the registrar.
If you are told this, make representations directly to the company secretary of the company in which you own shares. The company should take such practices extremely seriously. Also, in some circumstances ( if your shares are held in a nominee account) consider making a complaint to the Financial Conduct Authority

FabCat · 11 September 2013 at 4:41PM

Some of you suggest that there is no connection between Equinity and ProSearch. However, it is clear that there is if you look at the bottom of their headed paper. It clearly states that ProSearch is a subsidiary of Equinity. Therefore, while ProSearch is a company in its own right, it is connected with Equinity. On this basis the chances are that ProSearch obtains information about shareholdings from Equinity. It's best to deal directly with Equinity to keep any costs to a minimum. I hope that this helps.

streetwixnsbhefurnvirjv · 11 September 2013 at 7:34PM

Go to Lloyds Banking Group web site and choose Investors tab > Shareholder info > Asset Reunification - Prosearch. This should clarify the situation.

Jayke · 13 September 2013 at 11:07AM

I got a letter from ProSearch over a month ago (but I only just opened it today after it was in a pile on my radiator for the last few weeks) I was staggered to read in bold my late father's name and my previous address. I knew my father had shares in Alliance & Leicester as the last correspondence we had from them was about 6 years ago. I still have that uncashed cheque as it is very dirty and stained, and as I have no proof to say I'm related as such (although does his death certificate count?) I know that this shares deal is genuine. From what I've read, people who are ALIVE, are complaining about getting short-changed/shafted. But from my point of view, if I get the full amount, brilliant! As far as I'm concerned, anything above 0.00 is a bonus to me! I know it won't be much - maybe something around 100 quid.

semi_artificial · 16 September 2013 at 2:30PM

In my case the “entitlement” is £127.12, for HBOS/Halifax dividend cheques issued to a previous address. Prosearch would charge £19.07 to issue a new cheque. Equiniti said they would charge £40. Neither could provide any details of exactly which shares generated the dividends, and what happened to them to cause the dividend cheques to cease in 2008 – in fact Equiniti couldn’t find any details without checking with Prosearch while I was on the line to them. I told Equiniti I had been careful to update my address with Halifax/HBOS – Equiniti said that this would not have been passed to them, and they were not obliged to refer back to Halifax/HBOS if cheques were not cashed. Clearly I need to keep a closer eye on my affairs.

Update: I located the Halifax reference number and my letter advising Halifax I was moving house in June 2002. Equiniti were then able to locate the shares and advise no dividends issued by LLoyds since 2008. Further to the advice by 'devliciously me' above, I've written a letter advising new details and requested reissue of the cheque at no charge. The person at Equiniti said that she couldn't update the details on the system without the system issuing a cheque with an automatic £40 deduction (£40 as cheque value over £100). Equiniti and their subsidiary Prosearch seem to be turning a cost of running their business properly into a revenue generating opportunity.

devliciously_me · 2 October 2013 at 10:13AM

If it is your mother, theres no harm in writing to Prosearch to confirm it. Once theyve written back advising of the company and the entitlement due, use the information provided, write directly to the registrar of the company (Equiniti) and ask them to release the money directly, without using Prosearch.
At least that way, they have come in handy at no ridiculous cost.

mlz1413 wrote: »

Hi all, i wanted to pick your brains on best practice re Prosearch.

my mum has just received a letter from this company but it only asks if she used to live at an address, which she did 20 years ago, and says that they have been appointed by a 'major corporation', no logos other than their own.

As there is no information of what company the shares (I presume it's shares!) are from what is the best way to avoid using Prosearch and therefore having to pay the excessive fees?

There is no fee info on this letter just ways to contact them to confirm name and current address.

So do we answer and find out more info
Or go straight to Equiniti - but if we do that what do we ask?

Thanks for any help

virtuallyfree · 2 October 2013 at 10:17AM

Just shows how easy it is to fall prey, you wont get stung again

campster66 · 16 October 2013 at 9:28AM

This forum makes me laugh.
I have had dealings with this company and found them to be professional.
Yes, it may be true that you can go elsewhere to update your records and the company makes no effort to hide who owns them.
The Royal Bank of Scotland own a train leasing company but youre not going to visit your branch to book train tickets to skegness, are you?. The same bank owned half the pubs in Britain. Again- bet you didnt go into complain that the beer was flat.

I ended up with around 88% of the value of an old shareholding that I had completely forgotten about. I consider that a WIN in my book. The process was simple and quick. Ive had dealings with other companies after this and it took forever to get what I was due.

It cant be too easy tracking people down and ensuring that youve found the right person or, as is the case with some of the posters, where a relative has died and they have found the people dealing with the after-effects. I imagine that it takes time and effort.

I spoke to them once to ask how my claim was going and got a really friendly operator who couldnt be more helpful if they tried.

I, for one, am pleased to have been contacted by this company.
Unlike a few people, I dont have any consiracy theories and I am happy to pay a small price for a good service.