NS&I not returning money

tartan_al

My father passed away in April and I contacted to have his premium bonds money returned to my mother who is 96 and not capable of dealing with this.it is now 3 months and nothing they keep telling me it will be soon but nothing every happens.I have filled in every form they have sent ,shown proof of death and now reported them to ombudsman in the hope of moving them on .Has anyone else had these issues or can give me some other form of attack.

eskbanker

Has probate been granted yet, as they're known for wanting this even for relatively small holdings?

https://www.nsandi.com/help/manage-money-for-others/customers-who-have-died

tartan_al

Don't need probate as my mother is alive, they have copy of will and death certificate along with the 100 forms I have filled in

Stubod

.may still need probate??

RosieRooBear

Unfortunately you need probate if you have more than £5000 in premium bonds. My dad died last year and even though my mum was still alive they insisted on probate.

Doctor_Who

tartan_al said:

Don't need probate as my mother is alive, they have copy of will and death certificate along with the 100 forms I have filled in

I'm sorry for your loss. My mother died in 2019 in Scotland and we were required by NS&I to provide a Certificate of Confirmation (equivalent of probate). The whole process of getting premium bonds and other accounts from NS&I took at least 3-4 months. If accounts are held jointly then I think you can sometimes avoid probate, but I don't think you can hold premium bonds in a joint account.

tartan_al

Thanks to everyone for your reply its annoying if I do need probate that after 3 months they have asked for it.or is this just another ploy to hold up paying out

Keep_pedalling

RosieRooBear said:

Unfortunately you need probate if you have more than £5000 in premium bonds. My dad died last year and even though my mum was still alive they insisted on probate.

The wordings actually says that probate may be required if over £5000 so it is at their discretion. If they require it the OP should have been informed that was the case. 

Doctor_Who

tartan_al said:

Thanks to everyone for your reply its annoying if I do need probate that after 3 months they have asked for it.or is this just another ploy to hold up paying out

It is a shame that NS&I didn't tell you much sooner that you needed probate. I think they told me over the phone when I called regarding my late mother's accounts. If it's any consolation, they were one of the quickest to pay out money once they had all of the forms/information required. Some other providers took quite a lot longer!

jaceyboy

What a terrible rule, one spouse is still alive and that money is 50/50!

Doctor_Who

jaceyboy said:

What a terrible rule, one spouse is still alive and that money is 50/50!

Only if it's in a joint account. When my father died any joint accounts were sorted pretty quickly and accounts transferred to my mother's name (done well before probate). However, any accounts solely in his name required a grant of probate (my mother lived in England at the time) before the money would be released. They say that it's always a good idea to have a joint account so that the surviving spouse has immediate access to some of the deceased's money.