I'm annoyed with NS and I

Rdwill

I'm also annoyed with myself for not reading the small print.

My son was born in May 2005, ever since then I have been saving money into premium bonds for him. His holders number account was linked to mine so went I logged into my NS and I I could also see his premium bond saving.

I targeted £1k a year to pay in when I got a bonus or some spare cash I would put it in, birthday's Christmas etc. Anyway including winnings there was circa £16k in the account.

Anyhow, a couple of days ago I logged in to put buy some more bonds for him and the account has disappeared from my view.

I phoned NS and I and apparently once he turned 16, the account is removed from my view and now he has to apply for an NS and I login and then the money is his.

He knows that I have been putting bits away for him but he doesn't know how much is there, and I didn't intend to tell him. If he wanted money for a car or insurance, then I was going to withdraw it knowing that I was still in control. I did not intend to give him the whole £16k at the age of 16 in one go. He is not old or mature enough, he doesn't understand the value of money, or how hard you have to work to get it.

In my view the money was my money which I saved for him in his name and I always intended to give it to him when he needed / wanted it for a good reason. NS and I have now taken that authority from me.

I don't want this money to go on a new cricket bat / trainers / mobile phone, the way that he spanks money when his grandparents give him some, it doesn't usually last the day before its spent on something extravagant that he doesn't really need.

I only wish that NS and I had warned me that they were going to do this so I could have taken action before they just went and did it. 

Rant over.  

sevenhills

Rdwill said:

He knows that I have been putting bits away for him but he doesn't know how much is there, and I didn't intend to tell him. If he wanted money for a car or insurance, then I was going to withdraw it knowing that I was still in control. I did not intend to give him the whole £16k at the age of 16 in one go. He is not old or mature enough, he doesn't understand the value of money, or how hard you have to work to get it.

So don't tell him he can access it, he won't think to do it on his own.

Rdwill

To late unfortunately, I didn't want it floating in the ether which it would have been if I hadn't got him to fill the forms out. He still doesn't know how much is there, we only filled out the forms today. 

I suppose when the login details turns up I could hijack them and then fill the login details myself, but
a. he knows its coming and
b. that's probably / definitely fraud.

eskbanker

Rdwill said:

I only wish that NS and I had warned me that they were going to do this

To be fair, they did, via https://www.nsandi.com/files/asset/pdf/premium-bonds-brochure.pdf

Premium Bonds for children

Children under 16 can hold Premium Bonds. However, the Bonds will need to be looked after by the child’s parent or guardian. This can be either: 

• the parent or guardian who bought the Bonds, or 

• the parent or guardian nominated by the person who bought the Bonds. 

Any Bonds bought and any prizes paid in relation to them will belong to the child. The parent or guardian will have responsibility for managing the Bonds and any prizes paid for the child’s benefit. The child will then begin to manage their own Bonds when they reach the age of 16.

Rdwill

Yes, I'm sure it was there I'm not denying that, and I probably read it when I opened the account in 2005, but a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then.

Just a direct message a couple of months before reminding me of the T&Cs would have averted this situation.

I do get its ultimately my responsibility. 

DireEmblem

Get your son to open a LISA.  You have saved up 16k, in 4 years time it will be at least 20k.

Rdwill

DireEmblem said:

Get your son to open a LISA.  You have saved up 16k, in 4 years time it will be at least 20k.

Oh rats, you need to be over 18 for a LISA

https://www.gov.uk/lifetime-isa

Thrugelmir

Rdwill said:

I only wish that NS and I had warned me that they were going to do this so I could have taken action before they just went and did it. 

If anyone should know the age of their children it's the parents. 

Intercept the incoming mail. 

IanManc

Rdwill said:

I'm also annoyed with myself for not reading the small print.

My son was born in May 2005, ever since then I have been saving money into premium bonds for him. His holders number account was linked to mine so went I logged into my NS and I I could also see his premium bond saving.

I targeted £1k a year to pay in when I got a bonus or some spare cash I would put it in, birthday's Christmas etc. Anyway including winnings there was circa £16k in the account.

Anyhow, a couple of days ago I logged in to put buy some more bonds for him and the account has disappeared from my view.

I phoned NS and I and apparently once he turned 16, the account is removed from my view and now he has to apply for an NS and I login and then the money is his.

He knows that I have been putting bits away for him but he doesn't know how much is there, and I didn't intend to tell him. If he wanted money for a car or insurance, then I was going to withdraw it knowing that I was still in control. I did not intend to give him the whole £16k at the age of 16 in one go. He is not old or mature enough, he doesn't understand the value of money, or how hard you have to work to get it.

In my view the money was my money which I saved for him in his name and I always intended to give it to him when he needed / wanted it for a good reason. NS and I have now taken that authority from me.

I don't want this money to go on a new cricket bat / trainers / mobile phone, the way that he spanks money when his grandparents give him some, it doesn't usually last the day before its spent on something extravagant that he doesn't really need.

I only wish that NS and I had warned me that they were going to do this so I could have taken action before they just went and did it. 

Rant over.  

It wasn't your money. It became his money when you bought him some premium bonds, with you as trustee. You gave it to him when you bought the bonds. Your "view" is wrong.

NS&I did warn you by making the terms and conditions available before you gave him the money.

There's no reason to be annoyed with NS&I. Maybe you could redirect the energy you're wasting on ranting by doing a PR blitz on your son about why you built up the sum of money for him, what he could do with it when he's older and what he might need it for; and why he shouldn't touch it now.  🙂

MX5huggy

Open a SIPP with him and tell him it’s the best place to put his money until he decides what to do with it........I’ll leave it to you to decide when to tell him he won’t need to decide till he’s 58 plus. 

jaybeetoo

If only you’d invested the money instead......