Forty million pounds worth of free shares will be forfeited if savers and mortgage-holders of the old Irish Permanent Building Society - now the Irish Permanent plc - do not collect them before September 21st.

One customer who recently realised she may have been entitled to such shares is Ms S, from Limerick, who with her boyfriend purchased their house with a mortgage from the IPBS in 1988. She did not receive notification from the company in 1994, however, when it was floated on the stock exchange.

According to Ms S, when she and her boyfriend ended their relationship in 1990 it was agreed that she would keep the house and pay the mortgage. They duly informed the IPBS that his name, which had appeared first on the deeds, should be removed and her sole name substituted. In February 1991 the IPBS agreed to consent to the transfer of the property and in March billed her £42.35 for this first legal decision. In May 1991 after she and her ex-boyfriend signed the appropriate documents they were forwarded by her solicitor to the IPBS.

In September 1991 the IPBS solicitors billed her another £90.75 for the execution of the new mortgage lease to her sole name. In October 1991 the IPBS signed the deed transferring the mortgage to her sole name.

Despite all this cost and effort mortgage statements kept arriving in both names and it was only "after repeated queries that in October 1992 a letter was sent to me saying the society had `amended its records' to show my sole name."

The rules of the privatisation were very specific: mortgage holders would only receive the 300 free shares (not worth over £1,500) if the first name holder of the mortgage deed was continuously the holder between February 23, 1992 to March 23, 1994.

The Irish Permanent's view up to now, says Ms S, is that she was not the continuous first name holder for that period and was not entitled to the free shares. This, we understand, is why the share notification was not sent to her, back in 1994.

Ms S is very aggrieved that she has not yet received her free shares - due to what she believes was an administrative error on the part of the IPBS. As far as she is concerned she has been the legal holder of the mortgage deed from October 1991 when the deed was transferred to her sole name.

A spokesperson for the Irish Permanent told Family Money that the case is with its legal advisers and is being investigated. A decision is expected shortly.

(Any saver or mortgage-holder with the Irish Permanent Building Society between 1992-1994 who may have been entitled to free shares but has not yet collected them should contact the Irish Permanent share helpline at 661 5577.)