Premium Bonds

newyorkann

My Mum has recently died from Covid & had premium bonds. Been informed to claim the money back we have to have a letter of probate costing from £215 -£415 even though she had a will & my sister & I had Power of Attorney. Is this right?

HansOndabush

Yes; other people have commented on NS&I being sticklers for probate.

Power of Attorney ceases on death so is irrelevant.

Aceace

You shouldn't need a grant or probate for NS&I if the deceased's total NS&I savings are less than £5,000 (according to the NS&I website).

wiseonesomeofthetime

Aceace said:

You shouldn't need a grant or probate for NS&I if the deceased's total NS&I savings are less than £5,000 (according to the NS&I website).

Referred to by @Aceace above
https://www.nsandi.com/help/manage-money-for-others/customers-who-have-died

@newyorkann - Sorry for your loss. Chances are you have followed the above link to the page on the NS&I site and submitted the claim form, so apologies if duplicating what you know already.

It would appear that your mom's savings would have exceeded £5,000.

It does use the word "may" though, i.e. "We may ask for this if the customer's total NS&I savings are £5,000 or over."


From https://www.gov.uk/applying-for-probate/apply-for-probate though:

Probate application fees

The application fee is £215 if the value of the estate is £5,000 or over.

There’s no fee if the estate is under £5,000.

Extra copies of the probate cost £1.50 each. This means you can send them to different organisations at the same time.

My understanding of this would be that, if your mom's estate is worth more than £5,000, which appears it may be, then probate will be required anyway. In which case, the extra copy should only cost you £1.50.

Best wishes