Old Premium Bonds, Dont Have Any Details

akira181

My father passed away quite suddenly back in the 90s and didn't leave behind any information on investments, bank details, pensions, etc that he may have had.  I get the impression that he put money away randomly in things he heard about via word of mouth so he had money scattered everywhere. 

Some bank accounts I've managed to find details for and reclaim but no idea what else he has out there or how I go about finding out.

I've been clearing out the attic at the mothers house as she's preparing to sell and found some paper Premium Savings Bond certificates.  Stamped 14th April 1972, Essex.  That was before I was born and I never knew he lived in Essex.

How do I find out if these are still valid and if so, how would I reclaim them?

eskbanker

https://www.nsandi.com/help/lost-touch-with-nsandi/track-lost-investments

akira181 said:

My father passed away quite suddenly back in the 90s and didn't leave behind any information on investments, bank details, pensions, etc that he may have had.  I get the impression that he put money away randomly in things he heard about via word of mouth so he had money scattered everywhere. 

Some bank accounts I've managed to find details for and reclaim but no idea what else he has out there or how I go about finding out.

Were you the executor of his estate?  All this search for lost accounts, investments, etc, should obviously have been done at the time rather than 20+ years later....

MX5huggy

Download the unclaimed prize list and search for the numbers(in addition to above).

https://www.nsandi.com/get-to-know-us/winning-bonds-downloads

Old_Lifer

He may have been on holiday in Essex and  went into a post office and bought the PB's over the counter.    I used to occasionally buy PB's that way in the  1960's  and 1970's.    The cashier would stamp them and hand them across the counter.

akira181

eskbanker said:

https://www.nsandi.com/help/lost-touch-with-nsandi/track-lost-investments

akira181 said:

My father passed away quite suddenly back in the 90s and didn't leave behind any information on investments, bank details, pensions, etc that he may have had.  I get the impression that he put money away randomly in things he heard about via word of mouth so he had money scattered everywhere. 

Some bank accounts I've managed to find details for and reclaim but no idea what else he has out there or how I go about finding out.

Were you the executor of his estate?  All this search for lost accounts, investments, etc, should obviously have been done at the time rather than 20+ years later....

Well I was 8 years old at the time and dialup Internet was just starting to become commonplace.  My mother was the exeucutor and didn't have the resources available back then as we do today.

Plus she had her hands full raising 2 kids by herself, so I doubt these searches were fully completed, if started at all.  We still occasionally stumble across things like these bond certs.

Thanks for the links, I'll have a read and see where this takes me

Nebulous2

Old_Lifer said:

He may have been on holiday in Essex and  went into a post office and bought the PB's over the counter.    I used to occasionally buy PB's that way in the  1960's  and 1970's.    The cashier would stamp them and hand them across the counter.

And what did you do with them? My wife has £5 worth like that, 5 numbers, stamped from where they were bought, with her name written on the certificate in pen. Bought by her father for her shortly after she was born. She hasn't been able to work out how to register them in her name. 

akira181

Old_Lifer said:

He may have been on holiday in Essex and  went into a post office and bought the PB's over the counter.    I used to occasionally buy PB's that way in the  1960's  and 1970's.    The cashier would stamp them and hand them across the counter.

Turns out my dad did live in Essex for a while, Upminster and Hornchurch for a while.  Don't think I have any record of his address(es) from back then though and the NS&I tracking form needs previous addresses.

I'll give them a call I guess and see what they can do to help.

Old_Lifer

I still have a few bonds  (less than £100)  taken-out circa 1965-1975.  They had my name and address from the original applications but if I moved house I wrote to NSI with the new address.    However, I've lived at my present address for around 30 years now but if I remember correctly  the last time,  they wrote back and gave me a holder's number (account number ? )..

Jimmar

Old_Lifer said:

I still have a few bonds  (less than £100)  taken-out circa 1965-1975.  They had my name and address from the original applications but if I moved house I wrote to NSI with the new address.    However, I've lived at my present address for around 30 years now but if I remember correctly  the last time,  they wrote back and gave me a holder's number (account number ? )..

Mine were the same, they were paper and had a form attached to change details. After I sent that back NS&I sent me a more modern set of details and I created an online account.

Salzab

Jimmar said:

Old_Lifer said:

I still have a few bonds  (less than £100)  taken-out circa 1965-1975.  They had my name and address from the original applications but if I moved house I wrote to NSI with the new address.    However, I've lived at my present address for around 30 years now but if I remember correctly  the last time,  they wrote back and gave me a holder's number (account number ? )..

Mine were the same, they were paper and had a form attached to change details. After I sent that back NS&I sent me a more modern set of details and I created an online account.

Same here for my parents. The have just a few and from as early as 1958. They have holders number but if they want to use the online service I want to make sure they're up to date. Do NS&I add the old numbers to the rest if you register for online? Not sure how it would be done.
I heard a few years back that the modern computer system they use wasnt even including the really old numbers due to the way its numbering system works, but cant find any article about that online anymore.
I used NS&I Facebook help chat since it was reasonable response time, and advice regarding checking address is up-to-date was for my parents to send an address update form for last address to current one from the NS&I site and add a cover letter noting details. (The holder needs to sign and date the letter too).
I cant post links yet but found the page on NS&I might be helpful for some 'get-back-to-premium-bonds'

Eco_Miser

If you (they) register at NS&I using the holder's number all your old paper bonds show up (at least, mine did).

All the old numbers are still on the system, but with leading zeros added to make them the same length as modern numbers. Some of mine have three leading zeros.