Selling share certificates

If you hold any UK investments on share certificates, you can sell them real-time during market hours through our telephone service by calling us on 08457 22 55 25.

You will need to have the share certificates to hand when you call as you will need to quote the certificate numbers - please ask the agent who answers your call to check that your certificates are valid. Please remember, selling a share certificate can take up to 10 working days but it can be delayed if we have not received all of the required documentation.

If you are not already a Halifax Share Dealing customer you may need to open a Share Dealing Account or Halifax ShareBuilder before we can sell your certificates. If the value of the certificates you are selling are under £9,000 and have been issued by one of the following companies, you can sell the certificates without opening an account:

• BT
• Centrica
• HBOS
• Legal & General
• Marks & Spencer
• O2
• Orange

How the sale is completed

In order to complete your sale, we will send you all the relevant paperwork which you must sign and return to us along with your share certificates. We can not send you any money from the sale until we receive these documents.

If you are selling share certificates worth more than £25,000 then you will need to send your share certificates and a CREST Transfer Form to us before you deal.

Deals up to £25,000 are charged at 1.25% of the deal value, with a minimum charge of £30.00. For deals over £25,000 in value, special rates are available on request.

If you would like to deposit your UK share certificates into an account with us, please see the 'Depositing share certificates' section.

Important Notice

Please note that if we have not received your documents 5 working days after the settlement date shown on your contract note, we will have to buy back your shares and you will be liable for all costs. These include the dealing charges for the original sale, the repurchase costs and associated dealing charges and an administration fee of £50 + VAT. We will deduct the money from your sale to offset these costs but you will have to pay any difference.

For security reasons, we strongly recommend that you send your share certificates by Special or Recorded delivery.

Please remember the value of your investments and the income from them can go down as well as up.  You may not get back the full amount you have invested.  If you're in any doubt about the suitability of any of our products, or whether to buy or sell shares, you should consult an appropriate Financial Adviser.