Assets please help

mrpepperman

Good morning, I hope someone can give me a little advice.
My brother and I have inherited a number of shares from various different companies, my solicitor has done a thorough search, suddenly ten months after my Aunt died I have a letter from a company called Equitini stating that they are holding assets and investments, surely this would have appeared via the solicitor earlier as probate was given in April.
Reviews on this company are not too impressive, my knowledge of this industry is very poor.
Thank you in advance for anybody who can shed some light on this.

Reaper

Despite negative comments about them I don't doubt they do have the shares. I suggest you get the details off them.

mrpepperman

Thank you Reaper,
They want a grant of representation, what unsettles me is they have a 28 day deadline. What would happen to the 'outstanding investments' after that ?

xylophone

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3028798
Might be as well to get on with sending the grant (by recorded delivery)?

Reaper

As xylophone points out there was a huge previous thread about this with the company treated with deep suspicion, but some people reported getting hold of previously unknown shares as a result.

I don't see that you have anything to lose by trying, as they are shares your solicitor has previously failed to locate.

As to what happens after the 28 days one person in that thread was told an agent would be appointed to return them and the additional costs would be deducted.

Vortigern

Equiniti are a perfectly respectable company (formerly known as Lloyds Bank Registrars). They are the official share registrars for many UK companies. They have probably sent a dividend cheque to your late aunt and had it returned as undeliverable. That's why they've written to you, and good for them, taking action to find a missing shareholder instead of just making the account dormant.

The long Equiniti thread was started by somebody who didn't like the tone of their letter or the deadline for action, but it's just a standard business letter; brief and to the point. The "Equiniti Scam" thread is just about an isolated instance of a share certificate lost in the post.

I've had dealings with Equiniti for many years and I've had no problems at all.

mrpepperman

Thanks to you all for the advice, and Vortigern thanks for the reassurance, it makes a great deal of sense, next what to do with the shares ? but that's another thread.

triumphstag_2

Hi thankyou for the link, however I am a doubting thomas so to speak, WHY and believe u me I have emptied my late Mothers house and not found any other investments but the ones we know about Barclays and original Prudential. Bank statements no unexplained amounts, all letters opened by myself since May last year, so I am baffled. Olwen

Vortigern

This is from Equiniti's website. (NB I do not work for Equiniti in any capacity)

Equiniti Financial Services Limited (EFSL) Mailings

As a firm authorised and regulated by the FSA (reference 468631), we have a regulatory duty to safeguard assets held on behalf of shareholders, and to undertake measures to try and make contact with these shareholders should they lose contact with us.

As part of these measures, we are currently running a series of targeted mailings seeking to re-establish contact with these shareholders and help reunite them with their entitlement.

To reduce the risk of potential fraud, we are not able to disclose details about any entitlement until we have verified the identity of any respondent.

More details on Equiniti website HERE

triumphstag_2

I will follow up the letter and will come back to the site with the outome. Thankyou for all your help Olwen triumphstag

mrpepperman

I have passed all the details on to my solicitor, she has absolutely no information on what my Aunt could have done here, also there was no paperwork at all in the house regarding Lloyds, or Equiniti, my Aunt had sold the LLoyds shares she owned many years ago. So we await the outcome, thanks once again for all your advice.