newbie with share problem

[discodunk]

hi all,firstly i dont know if this is the right place.,I've just been sorting my late father's estate, and I've come across a few shares,,how do I go about finding out if they are still valid? Surely if they had been cashed in the certificates would have been sent back to the company involved ,,any help would be appreciated,,there is also a couple from east Midlands electric which was sold to powergen then to eon ,I have spoken to eon and they can't find any record ,,,thanks for any help
dunk

[pje16]

Although it's likely they would have been sent in if sold
there are other scenarios
eg a share consolidtaion where a new certifcate would have been issued (that stops in Jan 2023) and may have been sold, leaving the original certificate worthless - ok that is unlikely but not impossible
Which other ones do you have?
btw the forum is a good place to ask those sort of things
PS If the share certificates had any value, he would have been getting dividends sent regularly, or paid into a bank.
Look at bank statements before 2020 as a lot of dividend payouts dried up after the pandemic

[mc2fool]

The certificates should have the names & addresses of their registrars on them. They should be able to provide information ... although you may have to trace them down, if they've moved/been taken over/etc.

[discodunk]

National grid
BT
British gas
Centrica
East Midlands electric

[Alaric]

National grid
BT
British gas
Centrica
East Midlands electric

One might infer that your father subscribed to the privatisations of British Gas, BT and the local electricity boards.

"Sid's" British Gas was split three ways, into BG, Centrica and Lattice. Lattice however was taken over by National Grid. I thinks it's likely that East Midlands Electricity was taken over for cash, but may have spun off a holding in National Grid before that.

If the holdings are still active, they should have been dividend cheques or bank credits and also statements for tax purposes. You may have to go back before 2020 to find these as BT and Centrica appear to have suspended dividends.

As suggested, it's the Registrars you would need to contact and if there are still shares, a formal notification of the passing of your father.

[mutantpoodle]

and if you are going to telephone the registrars...go to the loo and make a cup of coffee before you dial

they all have 'unusually high volume of calls at the moment but your call is important etc etc etc'

also so check out the ''SAYNO TO 0870' web site because its unlikely that any will have freephone numbers

[dealtn]

hi all,firstly i dont know if this is the right place.,I've just been sorting my late father's estate, and I've come across a few shares,,how do I go about finding out if they are still valid? Surely if they had been cashed in the certificates would have been sent back to the company involved ,,any help would be appreciated,,there is also a couple from east Midlands electric which was sold to powergen then to eon ,I have spoken to eon and they can't find any record ,,,thanks for any help
dunk

Check the bank account for dividend payments, cross referencing the dividend payment dates from the relevant companies.

[BobbyD]

Checking bank accounts is a sensible but not infallible move, there might for example be a stash of uncashed dividend checks hiding somewhere else in his effects, or at an old address, or...

You might find it easier if you check the companies' investor relation websites for their dividend histories so you know roughly what and more importantly when to look for.

eg. https://www.bt.com/about/investors/indi ... ccordion-1

Ultimately the registrars will have the definitive answer*. Google company name + registrar and you'll probably find most of them are Equiniti. Personally I'd use e-mail so I had a written record and didn't have to start from scratch everytime I called them, plus there's no waiting on the phone for hours, although the response period is probably in the months.

* It might not be the right answer though, a registrar once took 3 months to send me some incorrect SCRIP reference prices...

[XFool]

* It might not be the right answer though, a registrar once took 3 months to send me some incorrect SCRIP reference prices...

Crapita?

[dionaeamuscipula]

Ultimately the registrars will have the definitive answer*. Google company name + registrar and you'll probably find most of them are Equiniti.

The other significant player is Link Group (this is the former Capita IRG business).

DM

[BobbyD]

* It might not be the right answer though, a registrar once took 3 months to send me some incorrect SCRIP reference prices...

Crapita?

I'm about 99.7% sure it wasn't, but this is going back to the MF days so I'm not going to attach a name without double checking my recollection of the company whose shares were involved. Having got bored waiting and dug the information out of RNS myself it didn't make any difference, except to my confidence in responses from registrars. I still don't understand why you wouldn't just keep a comprehensive list of SCRIP reference prices on your IR site.

[BobbyD]

Ultimately the registrars will have the definitive answer*. Google company name + registrar and you'll probably find most of them are Equiniti.

The other significant player is Link Group (this is the former Capita IRG business).

DM

Yeah, I think he's got four of a kind though.

[XFool]

National grid
BT
British gas
Centrica
East Midlands electric

BT, Centrica and National Grid are still operating companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. The value of the shares will be the number of each share shown on the certificate times the daily quoted price (assuming the share certificate is still a valid one). You can't cash them in by sending them to the company, you need to sell them through a broker at the daily quoted selling (or 'Bid') price. Some share registrars do offer such a service (not necessarily the cheapest route) and if this is a one off this might prove the simplest approach for you.

You can sell the certificates directly (usually now by phone) via a broker, but this is not cheap. Usually you open an account with an online broker, transfer the shares to their ownership with a form (usually at zero cost), and post forms and certificate to them. They are shown in your online account and you can sell the 'dematerialised' shares at a low commission rate.

To get an online quote for the listed shares, the so called 'EPICs' are:

BT - BT.A
Centrica - CN
National Grid - NG.

[richfool]

National grid
BT
British gas
Centrica
East Midlands electric

BT, Centrica and National Grid are still operating companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. The value of the shares will be the number of each share shown on the certificate times the daily quoted price (assuming the share certificate is still a valid one). You can't cash them in by sending them to the company, you need to sell them through a broker at the daily quoted selling (or 'Bid') price. Some share registrars do offer such a service (not necessarily the cheapest route) and if this is a one off this might prove the simplest approach for you.

You can sell the certificates directly (usually now by phone) via a broker, but this is not cheap. Usually you open an account with an online broker, transfer the shares to their ownership with a form (usually at zero cost), and post forms and certificate to them. They are shown in your online account and you can sell the 'dematerialised' shares at a low commission rate.

To get an online quote for the listed shares, the so called 'EPICs' are:

BT - BT.A
Centrica - CN
National Grid - NG.

Centrica - CN = CNA

[XFool]

...

Centrica - CN = CNA

Yes. Somehow mis-copied. I don't own any of those shares - so that's my excuse.

[Alaric]

You can't cash them in by sending them to the company, you need to sell them through a broker at the daily quoted selling (or 'Bid') price. Some share registrars do offer such a service (not necessarily the cheapest route) and if this is a one off this might prove the simplest approach for you.

From the context, the OP is executor of his father's estate. The initial problem is to establish that the shares still exist and establish title to them. If the expression of wishes in the Will permits, they may not even need to be sold.

[discodunk]

You can't cash them in by sending them to the company, you need to sell them through a broker at the daily quoted selling (or 'Bid') price. Some share registrars do offer such a service (not necessarily the cheapest route) and if this is a one off this might prove the simplest approach for you.

From the context, the OP is executor of his father's estate. The initial problem is to establish that the shares still exist and establish title to them. If the expression of wishes in the Will permits, they may not even need to be sold.

hi all ,yes i am the executor of the will,,,the update of it all,is his estate has become very complicated ,,,,,then i have to sort out the shares to see if they are still valid,,,,so ive had to hand it all over to a friendly solicitor whos going to pull my pants down i do hope the shares are worth something,,,,i must thank you all for the advice ,its really helped,,ill let you know how it unfolds,,wish me luck

[torata]

You can't cash them in by sending them to the company, you need to sell them through a broker at the daily quoted selling (or 'Bid') price. Some share registrars do offer such a service (not necessarily the cheapest route) and if this is a one off this might prove the simplest approach for you.

From the context, the OP is executor of his father's estate. The initial problem is to establish that the shares still exist and establish title to them. If the expression of wishes in the Will permits, they may not even need to be sold.

hi all ,yes i am the executor of the will,,,the update of it all,is his estate has become very complicated ,,,,,then i have to sort out the shares to see if they are still valid,,,,so ive had to hand it all over to a friendly solicitor whos going to pull my pants down i do hope the shares are worth something,,,,i must thank you all for the advice ,its really helped,,ill let you know how it unfolds,,wish me luck

Good Luck!

[discodunk]

Well ,down to earth with a bump
I'll let you do the sums --
511 shares of national grid
500 shares of British gas,
These are physical share certificates I've seen ,,yet solicitor has said there's only £2000 worth,so not sure what has happened to them,could my father have cashed them in but still have the certificates,

[UncleEbenezer]

Well ,down to earth with a bump
I'll let you do the sums --
511 shares of national grid
500 shares of British gas,
These are physical share certificates I've seen ,,yet solicitor has said there's only £2000 worth,so not sure what has happened to them,could my father have cashed them in but still have the certificates,

What might solicitor know that you don't?

The registrars will know. If the solicitor knows, it's presumably because they asked the registrar, in which case they could also tell you that. Perhaps £2k is net of the solicitor's fee for a simple letter asking the registrar?