Standard Life shareholders leave £272m unclaimed

Standard Life shareholders leave £272m unclaimed

More than 235,000 former members of Standard Life have yet to claim windfall shares worth a total of around £272m, the company revealed today.

Standard Life ended more than 80 years of mutual status in July last year when it floated on the London Stock Exchange with shares at 230p. Members received an average of £1,475 in shares, and those who kept them have seen their investment increase - shares closed last night at 306p.

A shareholder in Essex has so far failed to collect more than 45,000 shares, worth £138,000 at last night's price, while one in the Bristol area has yet to claim shares worth £126,000, and another in County Kildare has not yet come forward for his or her stake of £117,000.

The unclaimed assets amount to 4.2% of the company's total shareholdings and are being held in an unclaimed assets trust. In addition, £18m in cash has yet to be claimed by almost 20,000 members worldwide.

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Anyone entitled to either shares or cash has until July 10 2016 to come forward. After that, any money left over will be "used for general corporate purposes, which may include charitable giving", the company said.

Around 7,000 former members come forward each month to claim their windfall from the trust.

A spokesman for Standard Life said: "We are pleased that people are continuing to come forward to claim their shares and cash. However, we would like the Unclaimed Assets Trust to decline further in value.

"It is neither in the best interests of the individuals concerned, or the company, for these assets to be lying in trust."

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