How to locate shares that are lost

We show you how to get your money back if you are entitled to a windfall from the andpound;25 billion in unclaimed shares and dividend payments

Billions of pounds' worth of shares and dividends are just waiting for investors who have forgotten about them to claim them.

According to recent data from Gretel, a free service that helps track investments, pensions, and savings, an astounding £2.5 billion is still unclaimed. An average windfall of 1,250 is due to an estimated 2 million people, though some may receive much more.

People may become disconnected from their shares and dividends for a variety of reasons.

"Company takeovers is a common factor," Gretel CEO Duncan Stevens said. "When a company is transformed from being member-owned, like a mutual life insurance company, to a limited company owned by shareholders, people also forget about windfall shares given. We call this demutualization. A "

Stevens notes that there was a strong push to encourage people to purchase company shares during the 1980s.

Large-scale newspaper advertising campaigns drew a large number of first-time investors. Meanwhile, businesses like British Gas have since disbanded, and a lot of people have either lost track of or forgotten that they owned shares. A "

Having no record of holdings and misplacing paper share certificates are frequent errors.

Here's how to get your shares and dividend payments back if you've lost contact with them.

How to locate shares that were lost.

In a matter of minutes, you can register with a share tracing service like Gretel if you believe you have lost track of any shares.

In order to register, you must provide your email address and create a password. It will then generate a search after you enter your name, address, and birthdate. Along with names you've previously gone by, like a maiden name, you can also add any past addresses that aren't displayed.

Every time it adds new partners, Gretel continues to search, so even if you don't immediately find success, you might have a pleasant surprise in the months that follow because it will flag new accounts as they are discovered.

Because its database covers the entire UK financial sector, including bank accounts, pensions, child trust funds, premium bonds, investments, and life insurance policies, searches won't only look for shares. You may discover some of your money hidden elsewhere by registering.

If you have a power of attorney, you can look for lost shares that belong to other people.

It's also possible that a deceased family member had shares that you were unaware of.

You can also contact the share registrars Computershare, Equniti, and MUFG to find misplaced shares. Make direct contact with the company you own shares in if you are familiar with them.

Be wary of businesses that charge for lost share searches that might not be worth the expense. They might not even offer a legitimate search.

How to locate dividends that are lost.

You will also be able to determine whether you are owed any backdated dividend payments if a search turns up any of your lost shareholdings.

If a company's dividend earnings surpass the annual allowance, they will be subject to taxation. The first 500 dividends are tax-free for the current tax year, 2025 - 2026.

Remember that some companies have a 12-year deadline for claiming dividends.

Do you possess a paper share certificate?

Although the majority of shares are now digital rather than paper, the most recent estimates indicate that there are still about 10 million paper share certificates in circulation.

Many of these are lost, but if you can find them, ownership will be listed on the share register.

Once your shares are back in your possession and you have paid for a duplicate certificate, you may want to think about making the shares digital.

A government initiative aims to convert all shares to digital. Going digital will save time if you want to keep (rather than sell) your newly acquired holdings because electronic transactions make trading faster. Because expenses are reduced, it might also result in financial savings.

You can view the number of shares you own and their value at the touch of a screen when you hold shares electronically. You can sell online in a matter of seconds, and within two business days, the funds will be transferred to a designated bank account.

Because these accounts are kept online, it is extremely difficult for them to be lost because they do not need physical share certificates to prove ownership.

Paper shares have a more basic disadvantage in that they cannot be held in a tax-free wrapper like an ISA or self-invested personal pension (SIPP).

Shares held on paper can be converted into digital versions by the majority of online brokers and then moved to an ISA or a SIPP.

According to current ISA regulations, savers are not permitted to move their current holdings straight into the ISA. The shares must be sold and repurchased within an ISAa procedure called Bed and ISA. A taxable capital gain may result from the sale of the shares, and stamp duty may need to be paid.

You can determine whether it's best to sell the shares or convert them to digital format based on the shares' value and associated expenses. It must simply be easier to sell in smaller quantities.

The process of holding shares is changed by going digital. Your name appears on the company's register and you are the legitimate owner of the shares if you own them through a paper certificate. You will receive correspondence from the company as a shareholder, and you will be able to participate in company votes and attend events like the annual general meeting (AGM). Additionally, the company will pay you dividends directly.

Digitally held shares are nominee shares, which implies that you have no direct connection to the company and only a beneficial interest in the securities. To assist you in converting the shares to digital ones, you will require an online broker.

It's important to store any share certificates you currently possess in a secure location. Even if the paper certificate disappears, it's a good idea to take a picture and email it to yourself as a backup to ensure you don't lose the information. Paper certificates are prone to loss, damage, and even theft.

Use the most tax-efficient method for holding shares.

The most tax-efficient way to hold shares after they are returned, unless you intend to sell them, is in a tax-free wrapper like an ISA or self-invested personal pension (SIPP).

Any capital gains or dividend income on investments held in an ISA are tax-free.

One major disadvantage of paper shares is that they cannot be held in an ISA or SIPP if you have a paper certificate. If you have any unused ISA allowance for the current tax year, you will need to convert the shares to digital ones in order to properly transfer them into an ISA using Bed and ISA.

Generally speaking, savers are not permitted to move their current holdings straight into an ISA. Therefore, the shares must be sold and repurchased, this time within an ISA called Bed and ISA.

If the gain exceeds the annual tax-free allowance of £3,000 for the current tax year 2025 - 2026, the sale of the shares may result in a capital gain that is taxable.

For capital gains tax purposes, shares passed between spouses are transferred on a no gain/no loss basis. This implies that you can use both of your capital gains tax allowances, which total £6,000, in the current tax year if you transfer shares to a husband, wife, or civil partner.