Fury as Brit families caught up in £470m Premium Bonds chaos’ | Personal Finance | Finance
A woman has spoken out after struggling to get National Savings & Investments (NS&I) to release her late husband’s savings. Celia Dowell, from Marston Green, West Midlands, was owed over £18,000 worth of Premium Bonds from the account of her late spouse, Robert, who died from a pulmonary disease in December.
Mr Dowell’s savings were released to her by bereavement staff at the banks where he had accounts, but she had to wait weeks more for the Treasury-backed bank, NS&I, to act. Mrs Dowell shared her experience after it emerged that NS&I faces some 37,000 claims from bereaved families who say they haven’t received money due to them after loved ones died. The total value owed is said to be in excess of £470million.
Families reported spending years dealing with red tape, filling in forms, making multiple phone calls and even getting lawyers involved to recover money which was rightfully theirs.
Mrs Dowell told This is Money that after her husband’s death, she submitted all relevant paperwork to NS&I and was told on February 25 she would receive the money “shortly”.
She also told the publication she had not heard anything since then, adding: “I was just told that there was a heavy backlog for bereaved families.
“I can’t understand why it’s taking so long – it’s like getting blood out of a stone.”
A spokesperson for NS&I said: “We have spoken to Mrs Dowell and arranged for her late husband’s savings to be paid directly to her, as well as agreeing a goodwill payment for the distress and inconvenience it has caused.
“We apologise to any of our customers who have had a poor experience and where we have fallen short of their expectations.”
The spokesperson explained that NS&I is not part of the Government’s Tell Us Once service, which focuses on updating departments providing services such as benefits, passports and pensions, rather than banking services and investments, which often require individualised contact with executors.
NS&I previously apologised for its wider customer service shortfalls.
Dax Harkins resigned as chief executive of NS&I following the controversy. He was replaced by the former head of HM Revenue & Customs, Sir Jim Harra.
Pensions Minister Torsten Bell told the House of Commons last month that no funds had been misplaced and that all those affected would be entitled to every penny they are due.
