NS&I chaos, who will foot the bill?

[Skyedriver]

So it's been "proven" that NS&I are not exactly on top of things and there's likely to be a rather large drain on funds to rightly pay those who have invested and are maybe now deceased. There may well be compensation claims.

It's been said that the "taxpayer" won't be the ones to bail them out so I assume it's going to be those who currently have savings and Premium Bonds...

Oh and I read earlier that the bloke parachuted in to sort it all out is someone who was supposed to be sorting out HMRC and we know where that mess stands.

[Hol]

SNIP quote.

Skyedriver said:

Oh and I read earlier that the bloke parachuted in to sort it all out is someone who was supposed to be sorting out HMRC and we know where that mess stands.

There s an old saying..

A specialist is someone bought in at the last minute to share the blame.


You are doing the equivalent of blaming a football manager for not turning a team around when when the owners stop him from buying new players or messing with the existing line up. And when nothing changes = managers fault.

[Hol]

From a registrars/record keepers point of view in the private sector, you only know someone if dead, if their surviving relatives/ executors tell you.

If that ^^ happened and no records were updated, then yes - some form of redress is due.

If however, people expect organisations to have direct access to some super all dancing central database that includes births, deaths and marriages, I fear they will be disappointed by reality.

[Huzzah]

Hol said:

From a registrars/record keepers point of view in the private sector, you only know someone if dead, if their surviving relatives/ executors tell you.

If that ^^ happened and no records were updated, then yes - some form of redress is due.

If however, people expect organisations to have direct access to some super all dancing central database that includes births, deaths and marriages, I fear they will be disappointed by reality.

When dealing with an estate recently, everyone was great. Except NS&I who were awkward, obstructive and tardy.

[The Leaper]

I am a co-executor dealing with a deceased friend's Estate. Once probate was obtained, getting repayment of his PBs, and o/s prizes won after the date of death, was straightforward, no delays etc.

R.

[ChrisH72]

The Leaper said:

I am a co-executor dealing with a deceased friend's Estate. Once probate was obtained, getting repayment of his PBs, and o/s prizes won after the date of death, was straightforward, no delays etc.

R.

Can I ask how long it took to get the repayment of PBs?

I sent the grant of probate with the claim form on 3rd March. Got the grant of probate back a week later with a letter saying they'll be in touch. Nothing since. Obviously, given the scandal in the news I am a bit concerned. My dad had 50k in PBs and has won another 1k in prizes since his death. Its a lot of money which I (as executor) would like repaid. I phoned them yesterday but the automated message said they won't speak to me until its been a month since making the claim.

Also, is it safe to assume they are still in the draw until they pay out? Its only a few days until the November draw so in a way I'm happy to wait until then!

Edited by ChrisH72 on Friday 27th March 13:02

[The Leaper]

ChrisH72 said:

Can I ask how long it took to get the repayment of PBs?

I sent the grant of probate with the claim form on 3rd March. Got the grant of probate back a week later with a letter saying they'll be in touch. Nothing since. Obviously, given the scandal in the news I am a bit concerned. My dad had 50k in PBs and has won another 1k in prizes since his death. Its a lot of money which I (as executor) would like repaid. I phoned them yesterday but the automated message said they won't speak to me until its been a month since making the claim.

Also, is it safe to assume they are still in the draw until they pay out? Its only a few days until the November draw so in a way I'm happy to wait until then!

Edited by ChrisH72 on Friday 27th March 13:02

Probate was obtained 19.01.2025. Payment of PBs (£40,000) and prizes (£2475) applied for in July, received 22.08.25.

PBs remain in the draw until they are paid out.

You mention November.......the next draw is April !

R.

[Skyedriver]

Hol said:

SNIP quote.

Skyedriver said:

Oh and I read earlier that the bloke parachuted in to sort it all out is someone who was supposed to be sorting out HMRC and we know where that mess stands.

There s an old saying..

A specialist is someone bought in at the last minute to share the blame.


You are doing the equivalent of blaming a football manager for not turning a team around when when the owners stop him from buying new players or messing with the existing line up. And when nothing changes = managers fault.

I'm not blaming anyone, I'm actually paraphrasing an article in today's Telegraph.

We've been through the deceased bit a few years ago with MiL and just starting again with FiL but this time the Solicitor is "dealing" with it.

[ChrisH72]

The Leaper said:

ChrisH72 said:

Can I ask how long it took to get the repayment of PBs?

I sent the grant of probate with the claim form on 3rd March. Got the grant of probate back a week later with a letter saying they'll be in touch. Nothing since. Obviously, given the scandal in the news I am a bit concerned. My dad had 50k in PBs and has won another 1k in prizes since his death. Its a lot of money which I (as executor) would like repaid. I phoned them yesterday but the automated message said they won't speak to me until its been a month since making the claim.

Also, is it safe to assume they are still in the draw until they pay out? Its only a few days until the November draw so in a way I'm happy to wait until then!

Edited by ChrisH72 on Friday 27th March 13:02

Probate was obtained 19.01.2025. Payment of PBs (£40,000) and prizes (£2475) applied for in July, received 22.08.25.

PBs remain in the draw until they are paid out.

You mention November.......the next draw is April !

R.

My God, where did the last 6 months go!!

[Minglar]

I’m in the process of dealing with an Estate at the moment and there is an option to leave Premium Bonds in the draw for twelve months after the date of death. So far everything has been fairly smooth and I’ve received a couple of emails from them and some paperwork by post. Probate is still ongoing though so I guess we shall see how they deal with things after that. The money is not required immediately so I’ve instructed them to leave the bonds in the draw for the term, and any prizes won will be made payable to the beneficiary. Of course full redemption of the bonds cannot be made without Probate, and ownership of the bonds is non transferable, so ultimately they have to be repaid. Fingers crossed. BRM. .

[Thin White Duke]

NS & I were fine when I dealt with my grandparents estate a few years ago.

[Rough101]

I’ve been involved with them on two deceased estates only a year apart, the first was a nightmare, took 15 months and we got compensation, the second sorted within a week.

I think it’s pot luck.

They outsourced the original operations in Glasgow and Blackpool to Siemens, who got bought out by Atos, who then moved most of the operation to China, so the back office is probably a shambles, some other French mob run it now.

A mate was a lifer there and TUPE’d all over the place and retired after doing training in China.

[Countdown]

Hol said:

From a registrars/record keepers point of view in the private sector, you only know someone if dead, if their surviving relatives/ executors tell you.

If that ^^ happened and no records were updated, then yes - some form of redress is due.

If however, people expect organisations to have direct access to some super all dancing central database that includes births, deaths and marriages, I fear they will be disappointed by reality.

I stand to be corrected but I'm reasonably sure there are organisations which will notify pension funds when somebody has died. I'm not sure exactly how it works but Google tells me there are "Mortality Screening checks" and checking data against the Registry Office.

for people who have retired and moved abroad the Pension Funds use "Proof of Life" checks (which I believe are becoming harder with AI fakes.

[Skyedriver]

Minglar said:

I m in the process of dealing with an Estate at the moment and there is an option to leave Premium Bonds in the draw for twelve months after the date of death. So far everything has been fairly smooth and I ve received a couple of emails from them and some paperwork by post. Probate is still ongoing though so I guess we shall see how they deal with things after that. The money is not required immediately so I ve instructed them to leave the bonds in the draw for the term, and any prizes won will be made payable to the beneficiary. Of course full redemption of the bonds cannot be made without Probate, and ownership of the bonds is non transferable, so ultimately they have to be repaid. Fingers crossed. BRM. .

My recollection of the last one about three years ago is that NS&I won't do anything until Probate is granted.
Our latest one has been handed to the Solicitor to deal with,

Does the one stop shop "Tell us once" not cover NS&I as well?

[ChrisH72]

Tell us once doesn't inform any banks or building societies, you have to contact them directly including NS&I. They all have bereavement services and I found some better (quicker) to deal with than others. Some you can do online and others have to be done by post.

When my dad died I phoned NS&I about his premium bonds and to inform them he had passed. I think I had to post the death certificate which they returned with a claim form. Once probate was granted I posted the grant along with the claim form. They responded after a week or so by returning the grant with a letter that said they would be in touch shortly. That's the last I've heard so far.

[Minglar]

Skyedriver said:

Minglar said:

I m in the process of dealing with an Estate at the moment and there is an option to leave Premium Bonds in the draw for twelve months after the date of death. So far everything has been fairly smooth and I ve received a couple of emails from them and some paperwork by post. Probate is still ongoing though so I guess we shall see how they deal with things after that. The money is not required immediately so I ve instructed them to leave the bonds in the draw for the term, and any prizes won will be made payable to the beneficiary. Of course full redemption of the bonds cannot be made without Probate, and ownership of the bonds is non transferable, so ultimately they have to be repaid. Fingers crossed. BRM. .

My recollection of the last one about three years ago is that NS&I won't do anything until Probate is granted.
Our latest one has been handed to the Solicitor to deal with,

Does the one stop shop "Tell us once" not cover NS&I as well?

“Tell Us Once” only covers certain Government agencies and local Councils. So it will cover DVLA, State Pension, HMRC, Council Tax and things like that. Despite NS&I being Government backed they are not advised as part of the “Tell Us Once” process. The onus is firmly on behalf of the Executor to do that as it is with anything else “private” ie banks, private pensions, ISAs, shares etc. I called NS&I first and they would not take notification of the death by phone. A notification of death form has to be filled in on line and a death certificate has to be uploaded. As part of that process nomination of the beneficiary has to be declared as well as the twelve month option I mentioned. They have told me that the Premium Bonds will be left in the draw until twelve months from the date of death and any future prizes will be made payable to the beneficiary. Previous prizes were accepted by the beneficiary’s bank account despite my concern that they would be held in limbo. I guess I’ll find out if/when the next prize is won whether they do what they said, as the prizes are issued the old fashioned way with a cheque/warrant rather than direct payment in to a bank account. Probate is only required to actually facilitate the repayment of the bonds and I’ve told them I’ll send them the documents when I receive them, plus their claim form too. We shall see how it all plays out as I can’t do anything else until Probate is granted. BRM.

[ChrisH72]

It amazed me the difference between these financial organisations.

My dad had over 100k in the Halifax over 4 different accounts. Everything was handled online and with a couple of quick phone calls. Within a week of uploading the grant of probate the money was in my bank.

Worst one (so far) was Standard Life. He had £17000 in a private pension which he had never touched. As this was outside of his estate and didn't need probate it was the first one I contacted shortly after he died in October. They were okay on the phone and sent a letter saying 8500 would be paid to my brother and I as beneficiaries. It took almost 4 months to come through and the amount was actually 6100. I know they deduct tax (I pay 20%) but 2400 is more than 20% of 8500. There was no statement to say how they arrived at that figure so I guess it was fees or something.

In this day and age where bank transfers are instant I still don't see why some of these places can justify taking so long to put a simple payment through once they have the relevant documentation.

[Minglar]

ChrisH72 said:

It amazed me the difference between these financial organisations.

My dad had over 100k in the Halifax over 4 different accounts. Everything was handled online and with a couple of quick phone calls. Within a week of uploading the grant of probate the money was in my bank.

Worst one (so far) was Standard Life. He had £17000 in a private pension which he had never touched. As this was outside of his estate and didn't need probate it was the first one I contacted shortly after he died in October. They were okay on the phone and sent a letter saying 8500 would be paid to my brother and I as beneficiaries. It took almost 4 months to come through and the amount was actually 6100. I know they deduct tax (I pay 20%) but 2400 is more than 20% of 8500. There was no statement to say how they arrived at that figure so I guess it was fees or something.

In this day and age where bank transfers are instant I still don't see why some of these places can justify taking so long to put a simple payment through once they have the relevant documentation.

It certainly is frustrating at times. My situation is a spousal transfer (FIL to MIL) so nothing is passing down, but the beneficiary is old and has never had anything to do with their finances so I’ve been tasked with sorting it all out. A friend of mine works for Halifax and she told me the best way to deal with them was by phone as they have a dedicated Bereavement team/line as many of the banks do. They were superb. Everything was sorted out with one phone call and one upload and a few days later I managed to set her up for on line access to everything too. Probate wasn’t required for any of this, but obviously if things are passing down I expect it would be different. BRM.

Edited by Minglar on Sunday 29th March 11:23

[Jules Sunley]

ChrisH72 said:

It amazed me the difference between these financial organisations.

My dad had over 100k in the Halifax over 4 different accounts. Everything was handled online and with a couple of quick phone calls. Within a week of uploading the grant of probate the money was in my bank.

Worst one (so far) was Standard Life. He had £17000 in a private pension which he had never touched. As this was outside of his estate and didn't need probate it was the first one I contacted shortly after he died in October. They were okay on the phone and sent a letter saying 8500 would be paid to my brother and I as beneficiaries. It took almost 4 months to come through and the amount was actually 6100. I know they deduct tax (I pay 20%) but 2400 is more than 20% of 8500. There was no statement to say how they arrived at that figure so I guess it was fees or something.

In this day and age where bank transfers are instant I still don't see why some of these places can justify taking so long to put a simple payment through once they have the relevant documentation.

IFA here. You need to revisit the Standard Life payout. I am assuming your father was past age 75 when he died (my condolences) and hence you and your brother inherited half of his fund each as beneficiaries and you then chose to withdraw yours as a single sum which is a taxable payment (for the benefit of others reading this, death before age 75 money is paid out tax-free, but after 75 it is inherited as a pension fund so you can then choose to retain it until later or encash at any time and pay income tax based on your total income in the tax year of withdrawal).

Standard Life don't have access to your other income so an emergency tax of sorts would have been applied, and as 'PAYE' was never designed for one off payments but rather for regular monthly ones this more often than not results in an incorrect tax deduction for the recipeint.

Std Life should have sent you a letter showing the gross and net and hence how much tax they have sent HMRC so you need to go back and ask them for this. You should also get a P60 issued with the tax year ending.

There may have been some fees incldued for moving to your name and then withdrawing so you need the breakdown to check tax specifically but they shouldn't be that much if any.

You can then speak to HMRC and reclaim any excess which they will pay directly to your chosen bank account. There are some variations on the form for this but I suggest ringing HMRC once you have the Std Life breakdown so they can guide you to which one and how to complete it.


Best of luck and likely to get a few hundred quid back for the sake of a phone call and a form.

[Jules Sunley]

Oh and back to thread topic, I have dealt with many estates and always found NS&I the easiest to deal with. Sounds like bad pot luck for those with the issues as this includes recent ones for me. Awful for those that are struggling though.