Premium Bonds and setting up NS&I account

kintyremaid

I have had one premium bond for 65 years, tempted by stories of unclaimed prizes I have attempted to register with NS&I. I emailed NS&I through their website with changes of name, address etc. over the years. Today I received a letter with my NS&I number which also tells me I need a password and if I don't have one to call 08085 007 007 . James Bond it isn't. A robot answered the phone and offered to help, then just texted me an online web address which told me the password requirements but no facility to create one. Once online ,the web chat told me to put in password I would like to use, obviously not recognised,  then web chat told me to phone same number as before but the magic trick is to tell robot 'speak to agent' . When I reached the agent he then asked reams of questions and tapped away for ages  before eventually asking if I had received a second letter with a temporary password.( Nothing about a second letter on the one I received today.). I am informed by the agent that when I filled in the form on the original email 2 weeks ago , it told me there that I would receve two letters! It's a bit much expecting people to remember that. 
I have spent most of the afternoon dealing with this, all to no avail as I have to wait for another letter. Aggravating for me and the impression is not one of dealing with security but incompetence.
Worst of all, NS&I is backed by HM Treasury, what hope is there for us all ?

ColdIron

kintyremaid said:

I am informed by the agent that when I filled in the form on the original email 2 weeks ago , it told me there that I would receve two letters! It's a bit much expecting people to remember that.

It's not really is it. When the second letter arrives you should be good to go

Ivana_B_Rich

I feel your pain. I've gone in to battle with the NS&I website twice recently. Firstly for my own bonds then to try and help my Mum with her bonds. 

Credit where it's due the AI has absolutely nailed the artificial, the intelligence not so much.  .

We were lucky both the humans I spoke to at NS&I were excellent. My account is now up and running, hopefully the necessary change to Mum's account will be completed in the next few days.

You can check for prizes using your bond holders number, you don't need to be logged in for this.

https://www.nsandi.com/prize-checker

Good luck, I hope you've got a nice surprise waiting 

kintyremaid

Update to yesterday, password received in post today and I can see my online account. But wait, there are no bank details for NS&I to transfer my squillions of winnings. I try to edit the details page , there is no 'change' button to click as described in FAQ . Chat bot suggests I ...... phone the same number as before .  Talk to the robot, persuade it to put me through to Simon, hurray for a sensible human. Simon says no credit check has been done, he will action it and if successful I will be able to change what happens to prizes in the account next week . Phew..Proviso  is that further ID may be required if there is a problem with credit check.
Unbelievable that layers of security needed to access the online account and I cannot then be trusted to let them know my bank details so if I win I have to receive a cheque in the post....
Hope anyone else in same predicament finds this useful !

boingy

Just never, ever, ever forget any of your login details. 

My wife clicked a "Forgot My Password" button and it kicked off a process that lasted no less that three weeks. She had to prove her ID again, receive several magic codes through the post and she also had to practice jumping though flaming hoops backwards until she could do it blindfolded on one leg.

It might be quicker and easier to break into Fort Knox than to unlock an NS&I account. It's kinda good that they take security seriously but it was way over the top compared with anyone else.

Swipe

They are also very keen on posting out lots of forms to be returned without self addressed envelopes, let alone pre-paid postage.