A Family’s Struggle with National Savings & Investments
A family from Cambridgeshire is currently dealing with an issue involving their late mother's £49,000 held in National Savings & Investments’ Premium Bonds. The funds were left to the father in the will after the mother passed away in November 2024, but the money has not been returned, nor has the prize money that was owed.
The father, who is 92 years old, wanted to avoid the stress of chasing NS&I for the inherited bonds. He planned to wait 12 months after his wife's death to cash in the investment because, according to the rules, beneficiaries can continue to be part of the monthly prize draw for 12 months after a holder dies. After that period, the accounts should be automatically closed down and the proceeds paid into the new owner’s chosen bank account.
To prepare for this, the beneficiary must provide documents including ID, a copy of probate, and the Premium Bond certificates by post. With the help of the family, the father completed all necessary steps by February last year. Specific NS&I bereavement forms, sent via the father’s solicitor, were completed and returned in July 2025. However, once the 12-month waiting period was up in November 2025, there was no sign of the cashed-in bonds.
The family waited and hoped for many weeks, but in March, having heard nothing about either the bonds or the £975 in prizes issued between March and November 2025, they chased by phone, email, and letter. This resulted in NS&I reissuing instructions it said it had sent to the father’s solicitor a year earlier, requesting to see either the original or certified photocopy of the Grant of Probate. This legal document proves executors of a will have the right to take charge of and distribute the deceased person’s estate.
Most big-name banks don’t require this document for sums of £50,000 or less. Unfortunately, NS&I requests it for any balances over £5,000. Around the same time, NS&I made checks to see if there were further accounts in the mother’s name that the family may not have been aware of. This action was prompted following revelations earlier this year that the Government-backed bank had wrongly told tens of thousands of bereaved families that their loved ones did not hold bonds or savings accounts with NS&I.
Operational Failings at NS&I
These operational failings forced the resignation of NS&I boss Dax Harkins. No additional accounts were traced in the search under the mother’s name. Meanwhile, the family raised a complaint about the poor service received, while remaining hopeful NS&I would finally transfer the funds. Sadly, this was not the case. When they called to chase in May, it asked for an updated Grant of Probate. They complied, but having reached the end of their tether, they asked for help.
It is incredible that so much paperwork and time was involved in simply closing a deceased customer’s account and transferring the balance to her widower, so I was eager to intervene. On my request, NS&I finally pulled its finger out and within a few days, at the end of May, the £49,000 balance was transferred, and a cheque sent for the £975 winnings.
An NS&I spokesman says: “We are sorry that [our customer’s widower] has experienced delays in the processing of his claim at a particularly difficult time for him. We’ve spoken with the family member who holds power of attorney and we now have the outstanding piece of paperwork from them which has enabled us to process the payment of his late wife’s savings.”
NS&I offered the family £100 as an apology, which I thought was measly, considering the bonds had been sitting idle for six months when the cash could have been earning returns elsewhere. NS&I took my comments on board and upped the payment to £250.
Student Loan Issues
Recently, another reader shared a similar issue with the Student Loans Company (SLC). They made their last student loan repayment to the SLC, thinking the loan was repaid in full. However, SLC continued to make deductions from their salary, and they are currently owed £643.
They have made numerous phone calls and used live chat and email, but no refund has been forthcoming. After a lengthy phone call, they were told that due to interest, they would get back less than they had overpaid. It makes no sense. Please help.
Shedding their £39,000 undergraduate and £12,000 postgraduate Plan 2 loans, which began accumulating in 2018, has been a priority for them since qualifying last year as a solicitor. They have made payments totaling about £65,000 since starting work and weren’t best pleased when an extra £643 was taken out of their monthly salary when they were sure they were clear of the debt.
I asked SLC to check its sums and explain why it had taken this extra payment. Staff soon phoned them to talk it through. On the call, it was confirmed the extra payment would be returned by the end of that week. The caller explained that extra deductions can be taken if an employer is given instructions to stop deducting loan repayments after its payroll cut-off day. But the sum is usually automatically refunded shortly afterwards by HM Revenue & Customs.
Other Consumer Complaints
Another reader shared an experience with a wine merchant. They bought a case of wine for £79 from WineDrops. Two days later, another £119 was taken from their bank account. They asked the company why and were told their trial membership had ended, so they were charged the membership fee. The agent said this was clearly stated when they bought the wine, but they didn’t realize. They were told they had 48 hours to cancel, but they didn’t notice until the fee had been taken. WineDrops has refunded the membership fee.
In December 2025, fraudsters gained access to a reader’s O2 mobile phone account. They took out four sim-only contracts in their name, leaving them with a £150 bill. O2 agreed to close the accounts down and cancel the bill, and they moved to a new network. But last week, they received an email saying “thank you for your order,” containing details of four more O2 sim cards ordered under their name.
Vrbo also faced complaints from a reader who booked a villa for £3,500 through Vrbo. Two nights before the booking was due to start, they were told the booking was cancelled because of flood damage. Vrbo offered to book a villa for €14,000, with the company covering €3,000. The reader found this ridiculous and had to book through another company. They had to spend around €80 a day in taxis. Vrbo paid the difference in the cost of the villas but refused to reimburse transportation costs. Vrbo has apologised and offered €250 in compensation.
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