Premium Bond syndicate problems

Malthusian

Apodemus said:

I'm not sure you have much of a leg to stand on and highly doubt if you have any recourse to the law.  The information on Premium Bonds makes it clear that these cannot be held jointly or in Trust, only by individuals - with the exception of parrents/guardians holding on behalf of children under 16.  The more general conditions of all NS&I investments make it clear that certain background information is required before anyone can sign up and this specifically would include information on any funds held by one individual on behalf of another.  Beyond this, I would have thought that the wider rules around money laundering would come into force.

I hope that you find a way to get your money back, but please be realistic that you are trying to enforce an unwritten contract, which was designed to do something that was not permitted in the first place.

As per Section62, none of that is any obstacle to the OP trying to get their money back.

The rules against holding NS&I products in Trust are there to prevent people exceeding the maximum limits or holding them when they aren't eligible (e.g. non-UK nationals).

The only possible consequence of breaking NS&I's rules (more in the letter than in spirit) is that NS&I shuts the account down. Possibly without prizes on the grounds that the bonds should never have been taken out, but I would push back if they tried that; it isn't any skin off NS&I's nose if a prizewinner wants to split their winnings.

The main obstacles to the OP getting their money back are a) does the "treasurer" have any money and b) does the OP have enough evidence to stand up in court, in that order. MoneyClaim (small claims court) is fairly straightforward but there is a decent chance that the court fees - and any legal fees if the OP is really going to go for it - would be throwing good money after bad.

maxsteam

Malthusian said:

 there is a decent chance that the court fees - and any legal fees if the OP is really going to go for it - would be throwing good money after bad.

If you are sure that you can contact the person, provide the details, state the intention to take the matter to court then, if the person doesn't respond at all to several letters, the court will usually award costs to the applicant. Again, if you are sure of a person's address and that they are employed or solvent, you have a good chance of collecting the money.

As to NS&I's terms, it wasn't the OP who broke them.