My mother has held shares in Sportech, the sports entertainment company, for around 15 years, held on a traditional share certificate. The value of these shares is around £300. She has decided to start investing a little bit again so I’ve set her up an online account and we hoped to transfer her old shares into it.
We sent off the share certificate and Crest form to transfer the funds only to be told that the certificate is invalid because at some point online shareholder service Capita had re-issued the share certificate for a different value per share and adjusted the quantity of shares.
But my mother never received this new certificate and to get a copy issued, it wants to charge her £89 for the pleasure. It makes it almost pointless transferring the shares when a third of the value is wiped out by the charge. Surely when it issued the new share certificate, Capita had a responsibility to ensure that the new certificate had been received?
GH/Banbury, Oxfordshire
I can see why you got upset at such a high fee, which seems enormous for what looks like a fairly inexpensive bit of administration. But it’s not simply a process of issuing another certificate. There is a risk attached which requires an indemnity.
If a share registrar reissues a certificate, then there is a risk of two certificates being in existence. That in turn could lead to the duplicate certificate being used for crime, such as attempted fraudulent transfer of the shares or the certificate being used as security for a loan.
So an indemnity is needed from the shareholder to protect the company issuing a duplicate certificate. It’s effectively an insurance payment to cover the risk of fraud and explains why the reissue charge is so high.
But the good news is that after we intervened, Capita decided to scrap the charge paid. A Capita shareholder services spokesperson said: “On this occasion, having consulted with the company, and as a gesture of goodwill, Capita will provide a full refund of all fees paid and the client has agreed to provide a waiver for the cover.”
GH was very happy as was his mother. He says: “My mother is delighted with the outcome and has asked me to express her sincere thanks to you.”
OUTCOME: Capita waives £89 fee for a new certificate
Simon Read is a money writer and broadcaster. He was the last personal finance editor at The Independent and is an expert on BBC1’s Right On The Money.
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