With a Post Office strike now looking inevitable this may be the time to switch from dividend cheques to automatic payments into your bank account. Computershare, which administers the paperwork for thousands of companies, says if you rely on timely dividends, electronic BACS payments are the safest option.

Meanwhile, if you’ve got to post back documents relating to a corporate actions, act now says Computershare director of investor services Naz Sarkar: ‘You may have to return your share certificate to take up an offer, so don’t sit on the paperwork.’