NS&I taking months over late mum's £49K Premium Bonds: SALLY SORTS IT

I am writing on behalf of my father who is concerned about my late mother’s £49,000 held in National Savings & Investments’ Premium Bonds.

It was left to him in her will when she died in November 2024 but has not been returned, and nor has the prize money owed. I hope you can help.

L. D., Cambridgeshire.

Sally Hamilton replies: You told me that your father is 92 and understandably can do without the stress of chasing NS&I for his inherited bonds.

You explained that he planned to wait 12 months after your mother’s death to cash in the investment because under the rules Premium Bonds can, if beneficiaries choose, continue to be part of the monthly prize draw for 12 months after a holder dies.

After that, the accounts should be automatically closed down and the proceeds paid into the new owner’s chosen bank account.

Delays: National Savings &amp; Investments has still not returned £49,000 worth of premium Premium Bonds that had belonged to a reader's mother who died in November 2024

Delays: National Savings & Investments has still not returned £49,000 worth of premium Premium Bonds that had belonged to a reader's mother who died in November 2024

To prepare for this, the beneficiary must provide documents including ID, a copy of probate and the Premium Bond certificates by post.

With your help, your father did all this by February last year. Specific NS&I bereavement forms, sent via your dad’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.

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You and your father 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, you chased by phone, email and letter.

This resulted in NS&I reissuing instructions it said it had sent to your 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 your mother’s name that you 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.

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These operational failings forced the resignation of NS&I boss Dax Harkins. No additional accounts were traced in the search under your mother’s name.

Meanwhile, you 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 you called to chase in May, it asked for an updated Grant of Probate. You complied but, having reached the end of your tether, asked for my 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 you £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.

Finally paid off student loan - but they're still taking monthly payments

Recently I made my last student loan repayment to the Student Loans Company.

Despite thinking the loan was repaid in full, SLC has continued to make deductions from my salary, and I am currently owed £643.

I have made numerous phone calls and used live chat and email, but no refund has been forthcoming.

After a lengthy phone call today I was told that due to interest I will get back less than I have overpaid. It makes no sense. Please help.

R. D., Beaconsfield, Bucks.

Sally Hamilton replies: Shedding your £39,000 undergraduate and £12,000 postgraduate Plan 2 loans, which began accumulating in 2018, has been a priority for you since qualifying last year as a solicitor.

You have made payments totalling about £65,000 since starting work, and so weren’t best pleased when an extra £643 was taken out of your monthly salary when you were sure you were clear of the debt.

I asked SLC to check its sums and explain why it had taken this extra payment. Staff soon phoned you to talk it through. On the call it was confirmed the extra payment would be returned to you 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.

The best way for graduates to avoid extra payments being taken like this is to switch to direct debits in the final months of the loan. These will automatically take the right amount owed for the final payment.

When borrowers look up their loan balance on their online SLC account, they should see advice stating that if they are looking to settle the loan, they need to get in contact for an up-to-date quotation. This would include interest up to the date they are making the final payment.

When you made your payment, there was still some interest owed, which is why the usual deduction was taken the following month and why your refund of the overpayment will be a bit less than you expected.

SLC also suggested you check with your firm that the stop notice (the instruction issued by HMRC to employers telling them to stop making payroll deductions) has definitely been acted upon.

Employers can’t stop taking payments based on a request from a borrower. They must keep deducting the usual monthly amount until the stop notice has been processed. HMRC said it would send your employer a duplicate notice.

Straight to the point

I bought a case of wine for £79 from merchant WineDrops. I looked at my bank account two days later and another £119 had been taken.

I asked the company why and was told my trial membership had ended so I was charged the membership fee.

The agent said this was clearly stated when I bought the wine but I didn’t realise.

They said I had 48 hours to cancel but I didn’t notice until the fee had been taken.

Via email.

Winedrops has refunded you the membership fee.

***

In December 2025, fraudsters gained access to my O2 mobile phone account. They took out four sim-only contracts in my name, leaving me with a £150 bill.

O2 agreed to close the accounts down and cancel the bill, and I moved to a new network.

But last week, I received an email saying ‘thank you for your order’.

The message contained the details of four more O2 sim cards which had been ordered under my name.

C.C, Washington, Tyne and Wear.

O2 says that while you changed networks, your O2 account wasn’t permanently closed.

However, when attempts to place fraudulent orders were made, the company’s software blocked them.

***

We booked a villa for £3,500 through Vrbo. Two nights before the booking was due to start, we were told the booking was cancelled because of flood damage.

Vrbo said we could book a villa for €14,000, with the company covering €3,000. We thought it was ridiculous.

We had to book through another company. It was further along the coast than the original villa so we had to spend around €80 a day in taxis.

Vrbo paid us the difference in the cost of the villas but has refused to reimburse our transportation costs.

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V.B., via email.

Vrbo has apologised for the cancellation and offered you €250 in compensation.

Write to Sally Hamilton at Sally Sorts It, Money Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or email [email protected] ¿ include phone number, address and a note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Sally Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.