Aviva/Georgeson - "you have unclaimed cash..." letter

confusedmummy

I am getting letters from Aviva/Georgeson on behalf of my (deceased) dad that say he has "unclaimed cash from the takeover of Friends Provident). The letters originally went to his old address but I have spoken to them a few times and now they are sending them to my address with a c/o.

I have shown them my father's death certificate but they say that in order to release the funds (approx £800), I need to pay them an administration fee of £80 as indemnity (because it is a small estate, below the probate level). Is there any way of getting this money without paying the indemnity fee?

Glen_Clark

I cannot see why they can't deduct their fee from the funds so it looks like a scam to me.
Where exactly are they asking you to send money to?

bowlhead99

The indemnity is probably so that they have something in the kitty for the later headaches and potential financial loss when someone later goes along to Aviva and says, "hey, I inherited that cash, you shouldn't have given it to confusedmummy, and you didn't do it on the basis of seeing legal documentation like a grant of probate did you, I'm going to sue you for the £800 that I've lost as a result of your recklessness in handling the £800."

You could go and apply for probate to get the relevant legal documentation in your hand - which would cost more than £80 but could be used to satisfy more than one organisation so might be efficient of there were loads of these - or you can pay up?

This might seem frustrating/ upsetting, but for a number of organisations simply having the death cert is not likely to be good enough for them to hand it over no strings attached. If it was, they would have. After all, the death cert is a matter of public record so I could probably get my hands on a copy of your dad's, it doesn't make it my £800 though.

As per GC, if they are asking for money up front and your dad was not actually owed money by Aviva there is the potential of it being an "advance fee" scam.

SabNys

confusedmummy wrote: »

I have spoken to them a few times

Does that mean you have a phone number? If so, did you check the number on the Aviva (or whatever) site? If the number doesn't match, phone the number on the site and ask your questions.

As the other posters say - it could be a scam.

dunstonh

An indemnity is not unusual. Especially where probate and Will information is long gone. However, I would have expected Aviva would be willing to deduct it from the claim value.

As others say, it is a common scam method known as advance fee fraud and generally, you would not pay up front to get a larger amount later.

I would suggest you contact Friends Life directly using a number from their website and verify that it is valid. The board Aviva rep may be along shortly too giving you a contact email address you can use where they can look into it for you to make sure it is real.

confusedmummy

Glen_Clark wrote: »

I cannot see why they can't deduct their fee from the funds so it looks like a scam to me.
Where exactly are they asking you to send money to?

The letter is from a company called Georgeson, based in the Pavillions, Bristol.

I need to send the indemnity/administration fee to Computershare Investor Services Plc.

xylophone

Georgeson, based in the Pavillions, Bristol.

http://www.georgeson.com/uk/unclaimed/Pages/georgeson-letter.aspx

Georgeson specialises in locating people, making contact with them on behalf of companies and reuniting them with their forgotten or unclaimed assets, such as shares or cash. If you have recently received a letter from Georgeson it may be because one of our clients is attempting to make contact with you or you could be due an entitlement that you may not be aware of.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/money-saving-tips/jessicainvestigates/11605007/Why-am-I-being-asked-to-pay-12pc-commission-to-receive-my-shares.html

Vitally, though, the fact that an agency makes an approach does not stop shareholders going direct to the registrars and thereby cutting out the middleman and avoiding what may well be hefty commission.



http://www.aviva.com/investor-relations/shareholder-services/shareholder-updates/

Aviva undertakes a mailing programme with Georgeson

confusedmummy

xylophone wrote: »

http://www.georgeson.com/uk/unclaimed/Pages/georgeson-letter.aspx

Georgeson specialises in locating people, making contact with them on behalf of companies and reuniting them with their forgotten or unclaimed assets, such as shares or cash. If you have recently received a letter from Georgeson it may be because one of our clients is attempting to make contact with you or you could be due an entitlement that you may not be aware of.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/money-saving-tips/jessicainvestigates/11605007/Why-am-I-being-asked-to-pay-12pc-commission-to-receive-my-shares.html

Vitally, though, the fact that an agency makes an approach does not stop shareholders going direct to the registrars and thereby cutting out the middleman and avoiding what may well be hefty commission.



http://www.aviva.com/investor-relations/shareholder-services/shareholder-updates/

Aviva undertakes a mailing programme with Georgeson

Very helpful. Thanks.

catz1ct

Georgeson is the same company as computershare. If I was you I would go directly to computershare and skip georgeson as they may charge a finders fee.

Yes you have to pay the indemnity fee, they will not process the claim without it.