A shareholder has won a battle to avoid an attempted charge of £25,000 by Capita Registrars to indemnify against the consequences of a lost share certificate.
The certificate had been mailed to Capita so that a small part-sale could be made, the balance certificate had been returned by regular mail and had been lost.
Charging for unnecessary indemnities is a standard piece of gouging by registrars that would be treated as a scandal on the level of PPI if it was better known. A survey of UKSA members revealed a number of examples. Such certificates are no longer legal proof of ownership and if fraudulently presented as such would be exposed by the electronic ownership records which the registrar operates.
In this case the Small Claims Court found for the claimant, citing negligence by the registrar. We applaud.
