Premium Bond prize didn't arrive!!

pampam

I am posting this as a warning to other Premium Bond investors.

I checked on the NS&I website at the beginning of October and was pleased to see I had won £50.

In waited until 20th Oct but my cheque didn't arrive.
I phoned NS&I and they said "Give it until the end of the month. If it hasn't arrived by then write in and let us know we will then issue another cheque".

The prize didn't arrive and I have sent a letter informing them of the problem.

My point is this:-
What about all the bond holders who don't bother checking and just wait to see if a cheque arrives?
In this case they would just presume they hadn't won.

I think the sooner the prizes are put directly into our bank accounts the better.

I would advise everyone to put their Holders number into the NS&I web site and check if this had happened to them. Also tell anyone you know that is not on line to phone and ask if they have won.
cheers
Pam

Primrose

You can always avoid a cheque being lost in the post by choosing to reinvest your prizes in additional premium bonds (provided you're not holding the maximum £30,000). As the normal minimum purchase is £100 and most prizewinners only get £50, this is one way of acquiring less than the minimum number you could normally purchase.
I check my Holders Number online every month, but I suspect that many people regularly move house and forget to tell NSI of their new address so cheques go astray, and if payments were made direct into bank accounts and people change their banks, a similar problem would still occur.

Oblivion

It's a fair 'heads up' Pam and thanks for that, things can go wrong with the post, and in my experience, are doing so at an alarmingly escalating rate ... certainly not the good old trustworthy Post Office I knew in my former years.

At least if you keep a record of your holder's number you can do an historic search of past winnings, and I would second your advice to do so from time to time.

Dave.