According to BACS, the firm that process almost all electronic salaries, up to £30m worth of dividend cheques are not cashed each year.
As many dividend cheques are for small sums, people tend to ignore them and say they'll get round to paying them in later. However, the problem is that after six months cheques become invalid and another would have to be arranged. This seems a lot of hassle for sometimes only a few pence!
In addition to the uncashed cheques, almost 30,000 shareholders lose or ruin their dividend cheques and have to get them replaced.
Does no one love their dividend cheques? Why not have them paid straight into your bank account? It saves having to pay the cheques in yourself.