Misleading payout

eggman59

Hi, I’m dealing with my late father in laws estate, having left the bonds in for a year,and informing ns&i that the bonds now need to be payed out, I received a letter from them saying the money will be paid into designated account, but in the same letter I was informed of a large number of unclaimed prizes,adding up to a substantial amount, the amount for the bonds are being transferred into designated account, and I received the warrants for the remaining prizes, which amounted to a fraction of the amount that I was advised,and of which I’d advised his aged wife of the life changing winnings, I’m now left with trying to sort this out ,I would appreciate any advice

BooJewels

When I did the same process recently, I got the same arrangement - value of the bond holding transferred into the estate account that I gave them the details of and the outstanding prizes by paper warrants. But each warrant came in a separate envelope - so are you sure they've all arrived? 

Secondly, if you have the holder number, can you pop that into the PB prize checker and see what that advises in respect of unpaid prizes?   I did that before I even contacted NS&I, so already knew how much was due.

You could just ring and ask them of course.

jlfrs01

Have you compared the 2 figures (the value of bonds plus the unclaimed prizes you were originally notified of in the letter v the value of the transferred funds plus unclaimed prizes you were subsequently notified of)?

If the 2 figure are the same, there's no problem.

If the actual amount received is lower then I think somebody at NS&I need to offer an explanation, it could be a mistake was made.

eggman59

In the letter the value of the bonds was given,and in a separate paragraph the value in writing of the unclaimed prizes

eggman59

I’ve spoken to them and they claim it was a error on their part, but that doesn’t help me after advising his widow of substantial winnings

Malthusian

eggman59 said:

I’ve spoken to them and they claim it was a error on their part, but that doesn’t help me after advising his widow of substantial winnings

It helps you know what to say to his widow: "Apologies, but NS&I made an error and told me his winnings were higher than they actually are. I'm sorry that I raised your expectations; I relied on the information given to me by NS&I." There is nothing else to be done.
Except for a formal complaint to NS&I, but there is no financial loss and I honestly don't know whether they would make a token payment for "distress and inconvenience" in this situation. 

Beddie

This is a reminder to get rid of premium bonds if/when you know the end is near, saves a lot of hassle.

dunstonh

Beddie said:

This is a reminder to get rid of premium bonds if/when you know the end is near, saves a lot of hassle.

NS&I also have a low limit for demanding probate.