British Gas Shares

tootsa1973

Sorry everyone but I'm opening this 'can of worms' again & in desperate need of some help!

My late Father purchased BG shares in 1988 & again in 1989 and although my Mum still has the original Share Certificates for both, the administrators are refusing to acknowledge these as valid - they said they have no record of him & that due to GDPR they cant recall any paper records going back that far! 

They have been very unhelpful and abrupt in their commination to my Mother and I and basically said unless I can provide bank statements showing the payments made in 1988 & 1989 there is no claim! 

My Father banked with the same bank up until his death and although I have contacted them again they aren't able to help as GDPR means they have destroyed all records. 

The original certificates had been kept in the safe at my parents home and I don't believe my Father would have kept them had he sold them or they weren't valid! 

I'm finding it hard to accept that a organisation such as BG can brush off a share claim with 'we have no record of Mr XXX' even though we have the certificates. 

Any help would be very very much apricated 

Hoenir

tootsa1973 said:

I'm finding it hard to accept that a organisation such as BG can brush off a share claim with 'we have no record of Mr XXX' even though we have the certificates. 

British Gas as was at the time of flotatation ceased to exist many years ago. The share certificates would have been superceded by later reincartions of the business due to demergers and splits. Old share certificates are little more than collectors items now.  Original shareholders in the business now have become share holdings in Royal Dutch Shell, National Grid and Centrica.

Eyeful

If he was still a share holder in BG,  Royal Dutch Shell, National Grid or Centrica, one would expect him to be getting dividends from these companies. 
If  his bank statements do not show any dividends, may be he sold the share. 

wmb194

tootsa1973 said:

Sorry everyone but I'm opening this 'can of worms' again & in desperate need of some help!

My late Father purchased BG shares in 1988 & again in 1989 and although my Mum still has the original Share Certificates for both, the administrators are refusing to acknowledge these as valid - they said they have no record of him & that due to GDPR they cant recall any paper records going back that far! 

They have been very unhelpful and abrupt in their commination to my Mother and I and basically said unless I can provide bank statements showing the payments made in 1988 & 1989 there is no claim! 

My Father banked with the same bank up until his death and although I have contacted them again they aren't able to help as GDPR means they have destroyed all records. 

The original certificates had been kept in the safe at my parents home and I don't believe my Father would have kept them had he sold them or they weren't valid! 

I'm finding it hard to accept that a organisation such as BG can brush off a share claim with 'we have no record of Mr XXX' even though we have the certificates. 

Any help would be very very much apricated 

Assuming they weren't sold, as others have written those original 1980s certificates will have been superseded by certificates for other companies. Parts became National Grid (Transco/Lattice), Centrica and were bought by Shell (BG plc, cash and shares).

"Centrica became a separate, distinct corporation on 17 February 1997, when British Gas plc split (demerged) to form three separate companies: Centrica plc, BG plc and Transco plc."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrica#:~:text=Centrica%20became%20a%20separate%2C%20distinct,BG%20plc%20and%20Transco%20plc.

You're supposed to dispose of defunct share certificates but people have a bad habit of hanging on to them and confusing their executors.

jimjames

tootsa1973 said:

I'm finding it hard to accept that a organisation such as BG can brush off a share claim with 'we have no record of Mr XXX' even though we have the certificates.  

Sadly they can because an old certificate is no guarantee of actually holding those shares. It does look like he keep the certificates or maybe forgot he still had them in the safe when the new certificates were issued. Have you got any other certificates for other shares?

poseidon1

jimjames said:

tootsa1973 said:

I'm finding it hard to accept that a organisation such as BG can brush off a share claim with 'we have no record of Mr XXX' even though we have the certificates.  

Sadly they can because an old certificate is no guarantee of actually holding those shares. It does look like he keep the certificates or maybe forgot he still had them in the safe when the new certificates were issued. Have you got any other certificates for other shares?

This is a prime example of why paper certificates are a nonsense in this day and age especially in the hands of inactive passive 'investors'.

As pointed out, with mergers, de-mergers, acquisitions, reorganisations, takeovers etc, they can eventually become defunct worthless pieces of paper that do nothing more than cause considerable confusion to family members trying to make sense of a relative's portfolio.

The initiative to abolish paper certs and progress to wholly digitalised holdings really cannot happen soon enough.

Nardy

wmb194 said:

tootsa1973 said:

Sorry everyone but I'm opening this 'can of worms' again & in desperate need of some help!

My late Father purchased BG shares in 1988 & again in 1989 and although my Mum still has the original Share Certificates for both, the administrators are refusing to acknowledge these as valid - they said they have no record of him & that due to GDPR they cant recall any paper records going back that far! 

They have been very unhelpful and abrupt in their commination to my Mother and I and basically said unless I can provide bank statements showing the payments made in 1988 & 1989 there is no claim! 

My Father banked with the same bank up until his death and although I have contacted them again they aren't able to help as GDPR means they have destroyed all records. 

The original certificates had been kept in the safe at my parents home and I don't believe my Father would have kept them had he sold them or they weren't valid! 

I'm finding it hard to accept that a organisation such as BG can brush off a share claim with 'we have no record of Mr XXX' even though we have the certificates. 

Any help would be very very much apricated 

Assuming they weren't sold, as others have written those original 1980s certificates will have been superseded by certificates for other companies. Parts became National Grid (Transco/Lattice), Centrica and were bought by Shell (BG plc, cash and shares).

"Centrica became a separate, distinct corporation on 17 February 1997, when British Gas plc split (demerged) to form three separate companies: Centrica plc, BG plc and Transco plc."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrica#:~:text=Centrica%20became%20a%20separate%2C%20distinct,BG%20plc%20and%20Transco%20plc.

You're supposed to dispose of defunct share certificates but people have a bad habit of hanging on to them and confusing their executors.

A little bit more detail as someone employed by Britsh Gas for nearly 16 years. The term BG was useful as an abbreviation for British Gas until it was dismantled circa 94/95, in what I cynically call its second "privatisation". It was broken up into 3 companies namely BG plc, Centrica plc and Transco plc.  BG took control of British Gas oil fields and it was clearly stated that BG did not mean British Gas and they were not allowed to use the words British Gas when referring to UK operations but they were given exclusive right to use the words "British Gas" outside the UK. Centrica is the company that is British Gas and bills Domestic, Commercial and Industrial users of gas. Transco managed all the pipes that delivers gas, pumped into the system by gas shippers. Circa 2003 Transco was taken over by National Grid, the company that emerged from the privatisation of the CEGB, so we ended up with one company managing the supply of gas and electricity to the country. About 10 years ago BG plc was swallowed up by Shell. So anyone hanging onto their British Gas shares at some point in the 90s will have received certificates in shares for BG plc, Centrica plc and Transco plc. Subsequently BG plc share certificates will have been replaced by Shell certificates and Transco share certificates replaced by National Grid certificates.

I hope this helps.