Share sale scheme

[SchoolDramas]

I have shares in a company I used to work with from a share save scheme, I've now left the company. I didn't get sent any certificates at the time so I'll need to pay a fee to get these in order to put them in an investment account, I think.

I've received a letter offering a share dealing service through a third party partnering with my old company, but the costs is £5 plus 45p per share to a max of £200 (I'll have to pay the max which is a little under 10% of the total value) plus lost certificate fees (that I'll probably have to pay anyway). It seems steep and I can't work out what the buying price is as the letter only gives an example price. Is this a con, or just an expensive way to trade? Is it better to try and add the shares to my Isa and sell through there ? The offer seems an easy and quick option but I'm confused by the example price (the offer is open for a month so presumably it depends on the price on the trade date? - not sure I'm keen not being able to control that), and why the fee is so high.

Thanks !

Why have you not got a certificate. You shouldn’t be paying for a lost cert if it was never issued. I would contact your old firm and get them to rectify that for you.

Are you sure there were paper certificates and the shares are not held electronically?
When working, I was in SS schemes and we went electronic a couple of decades ago. All existing (paper) shares were transferred and new shares put directly into the share account. Despite being retired, my shares are still held that way.

Is the company listed on an exchange, or privately held? Price are the shares - what percentage does 45p represent? If listed, 45p per share is probably high. If unlisted, it's really your only option.

My employer said they were posted to me, so I have taken from this that they are paper. I have told them I didn't receive them and they told me I'd have to pay a replacement charge..I have an online account, but it just shows number of shares held, and not the certificate numbers.
It's a publically listed company and at the moment 45p per share is about 5%, but the fee is capped at £200. It does seem like a lot, but the process for getting new certificates seems to involve paying an indemnity against the old ones turning up.. which is around £200 as well 🙈