£272m share windfalls go begging at Standard Life

Nearly a quarter of a million Standard Life policyholders have yet to gather up the windfalls distributed after the company demutualised and floated last July - leaving unclaimed shares worth around £272m.

Standard Life, which ended 80 years of mutual status when it listed on the London Stock Exchange, said that more than 235,000 of its former members had yet to claim a total of nearly 90 million shares - 4.2 per cent of the company's total shareholder base.

There are a number of possible reasons for this. Some beneficiaries may have moved and failed to notify the insurer of the change of address. Some may simply have forgotten to take up their entitlement. And some may have died.

Each eligible member received a fixed allocation for their loss of membership of 185 shares, but the quantity varied according to the size of the policies and how long they had been held.

According to the insurer, more than 20 former members are entitled to unclaimed shares worth over £50,000, while seven could benefit from shares worth over £100,000.

One former member from Essex has failed to validate more than 45,000 shares - with a value of over £138,000. Elsewhere, an investor in Bristol has yet to claim some 41,000 shares.

In addition, £18m in cash still lies unclaimed by ex-members who live abroad.

Both the shares and the cash are being held in the company's Unclaimed Assets Trust (UAT) and will remain there until July 2016. Former members have until then to come forward, after which time the assets will be used for "general corporate purposes" - which may include charitable donations.

The company says that repeated attempts have been made to contact ex-members, and that 7,000 are coming forward each month. "We are pleased people are continuing to claim their shares and cash," said a Standard Life spokesman. "But we would like the UAT to decline further in value. It is neither in the best interests of the individuals concerned, nor the company, for the assets to be lying in trust."

Standard Life is due to pay its first dividend in May - expected to be 5.4p per share. Further, former members still holding windfall shares on the flotation anniversary of 10 July will receive bonus shares. Both the dividend and bonus will be awarded to shareholdings held in the UAT.