Premium Bond - Trying to place a premium bond with the rightful owner

PennineLady

My mum passed away a few years ago and we discovered 5 really old paper premium bonds. We sent them to NS&I and are currently in the process of getting 4 them transferred & registered into my name with my brother's consent.

The remaining premium bond NS&I say is registered to another customer so they are not willing to provide any information whatsoever!

I understand the confidentiality aspect, but how do I ensure the legal owner is made aware of the existence of this premium bond? After all, it could be a winner... one of the unclaimed millions that’s currently being advertised in the media!

Knowing my Mum, the Premium Bond may have been purchased on behalf of my Dad, Myself or my Brother. Anyway, I requested NS&I to at least write to the registered owner to let them know of the situation but my request has been ignored and it appears they are not prepared to do anything.

I'm just trying to place this premium bond with the rightful owner as they probably do not know it exists as my mum had the physical premium bond!

Is there anything else I can do?

wmb194

PennineLady said:

My mum passed away a few years ago and we discovered 5 really old paper premium bonds. We sent them to NS&I and are currently in the process of getting 4 them transferred & registered into my name with my brother's consent.

The remaining premium bond NS&I say is registered to another customer so they are not willing to provide any information whatsoever!

I understand the confidentiality aspect, but how do I ensure the legal owner is made aware of the existence of this premium bond? After all, it could be a winner... one of the unclaimed millions that’s currently being advertised in the media!

Knowing my Mum, the Premium Bond may have been purchased on behalf of my Dad, Myself or my Brother. Anyway, I requested NS&I to at least write to the registered owner to let them know of the situation but my request has been ignored and it appears they are not prepared to do anything.

I'm just trying to place this premium bond with the rightful owner as they probably do not know it exists as my mum had the physical premium bond!

Is there anything else I can do?

You mean literally a single bond worth a pound? I wouldn’t worry about it. The certificates aren’t bearer bonds so for all you know NS&I is satisfied that it is in contact with its owner but I doubt there’s anything more you can do anyway.

PennineLady

wmb194 said:

PennineLady said:

My mum passed away a few years ago and we discovered 5 really old paper premium bonds. We sent them to NS&I and are currently in the process of getting 4 them transferred & registered into my name with my brother's consent.

The remaining premium bond NS&I say is registered to another customer so they are not willing to provide any information whatsoever!

I understand the confidentiality aspect, but how do I ensure the legal owner is made aware of the existence of this premium bond? After all, it could be a winner... one of the unclaimed millions that’s currently being advertised in the media!

Knowing my Mum, the Premium Bond may have been purchased on behalf of my Dad, Myself or my Brother. Anyway, I requested NS&I to at least write to the registered owner to let them know of the situation but my request has been ignored and it appears they are not prepared to do anything.

I'm just trying to place this premium bond with the rightful owner as they probably do not know it exists as my mum had the physical premium bond!

Is there anything else I can do?

You mean literally a single bond worth a pound? I wouldn’t worry about it. The certificates aren’t bearer bonds so for all you know NS&I is satisfied that it is in contact with its owner but I doubt there’s anything more you can do anyway.

Thanks wmb194 for your comments & I do appreciate what you're saying. Yes, it is only £1 and it is indeed very unlikely, but not impossible, for it to have been a winner, especially after 50 years! I asked NS&I to confirm that they are in contact with the owner but they wouldn't even acknowledge that.

By the way, an old friend of mine had £10 worth of old premium bond and recently won £1000. They only found out through the NSI Lost Investment Service.
 

Section62

PennineLady said:

...

Knowing my Mum, the Premium Bond may have been purchased on behalf of my Dad, Myself or my Brother. Anyway, I requested NS&I to at least write to the registered owner to let them know of the situation but my request has been ignored and it appears they are not prepared to do anything.
...

Were the bonds the type which were stamped by the issuing post office at the time they were purchased?

If so, were they all purchased on the same day at the same post office?

Or (a longer shot) were the serial numbers of the 4 bonds sequential?

Isthisforreal99

To be blunt, whether they do or don't write to the rightful owner they don't have to confirm anything to you.

Section62

Isthisforreal99 said:

To be blunt, whether they do or don't write to the rightful owner they don't have to confirm anything to you.

That does depend on the circumstances though - for example if the OP's dad was the registered owner and has passed away (not mentioned in the OP's post) then if the OP was his personal representative or executor then they (the OP) would have some rights to information about the bond.

This is why I asked about the purchase of the four bonds - unless there is someone completely unknown to the OP, the person the fourth bond was registered to would probably be either the brother or the dad.  Or else NS&I have made a mistake.

PennineLady

Section62 said:

PennineLady said:

...

Knowing my Mum, the Premium Bond may have been purchased on behalf of my Dad, Myself or my Brother. Anyway, I requested NS&I to at least write to the registered owner to let them know of the situation but my request has been ignored and it appears they are not prepared to do anything.
...

Were the bonds the type which were stamped by the issuing post office at the time they were purchased?

If so, were they all purchased on the same day at the same post office?

Or (a longer shot) were the serial numbers of the 4 bonds sequential?

Thanks Section62

All 5 bonds bought from the same post office but at different times... the numbers are not sequential. 

I think back in the day (early 60's) my mum would have saved up a buy a premium bond out of her wages every now and then. I reckon £1 back then would be equivalent of about £20/£25 today.

For all I know the bond could have belonged to my Dad who died 13 years ago... I gave NS&I his details but they have completely ignored my comments.

All NS&I have to do is to confirm they have written to the owner of the bond (if they're still alive) so they know of it's existence. I know it's only £1 but it could have won something down the line over the last 50 years or so.

sgthammer

Unless all 5 bonds were purchased together, it's quite possible the stray one was also in your mum's name, but just with a different customer number - due to forgetfulness, office error, change of name or address, etc. This would be less likely to happen today, but does still sometimes come up.

NS&I can merge accounts in these circumstances, if you're able to evidence that's what's happened. But with the other 4 bonds already being transferred, it might be easier to wait a month or two and start tracing the single one from scratch. Have you told them it could be registered to any one of your family members?

PennineLady

sgthammer said:

Unless all 5 bonds were purchased together, it's quite possible the stray one was also in your mum's name, but just with a different customer number - due to forgetfulness, office error, change of name or address, etc. This would be less likely to happen today, but does still sometimes come up.

NS&I can merge accounts in these circumstances, if you're able to evidence that's what's happened. But with the other 4 bonds already being transferred, it might be easier to wait a month or two and start tracing the single one from scratch. Have you told them it could be registered to any one of your family members?

Yes, I told them everything but it appears they are not interested.

I've just come across a recent BBC article and apparently there is a petition calling for reform so names, dates of birth and address at time of purchase would be enough to locate an account. It goes onto say:

Difficulties highlighted include:

• a lack of awareness about premium bonds paperwork when it is found among a relative's possessions after they have died

• people who had paper bonds bought for them when they were minors not being aware they had to take steps to have the bonds transferred to them when they reach 16

• people finding bond certificates that have a holder's number, date and location of purchase, but the NS&I being unable to tell them to whom they belong

Reacting to the figures, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said it was "time for ministers to get a grip on this situation" by creating a new information campaign and new dedicated phone line about these "dormant millions".

Kim_13

It may be that the bond was bought by a friend, perhaps intended for you or your brother (does the purchase date coincide with a birth date?) There appear years ago not to have been any restrictions on who could buy bonds for children, or if there were, the issuance of a paper bond led purchasers to believe they could gift it to another person simply by handing them the physical bond. 

I do wonder how many sets of out of date contact details NS&I have - and they won't be able to locate the rightful owner of the funds on their own. On the balance of probabilities, very few bonds registered to someone born in 1956 or later probably indicates a gift they weren't aware of. If NS&I have had no communication with (be it transacting or needing to contact them) a holder for some years, they have probably forgotten they held bonds. The more you have in something, the less likely you are to overlook it when your details change. If holders are 100+, then on the balance of probabilities, they are no longer with us.

These "the bond is registered to someone else" bonds will probably never have to be repaid. A nice revenue raiser I suppose, and a reason for customers to be glad things have moved on, as the current system leaves fewer opportunities for lost bonds.

fuzzzzy

PennineLady said:

My mum passed away a few years ago and we discovered 5 really old paper premium bonds. We sent them to NS&I and are currently in the process of getting 4 them transferred & registered into my name with my brother's consent.

The remaining premium bond NS&I say is registered to another customer so they are not willing to provide any information whatsoever!

I understand the confidentiality aspect, but how do I ensure the legal owner is made aware of the existence of this premium bond? After all, it could be a winner... one of the unclaimed millions that’s currently being advertised in the media!

Knowing my Mum, the Premium Bond may have been purchased on behalf of my Dad, Myself or my Brother. Anyway, I requested NS&I to at least write to the registered owner to let them know of the situation but my request has been ignored and it appears they are not prepared to do anything.

I'm just trying to place this premium bond with the rightful owner as they probably do not know it exists as my mum had the physical premium bond!

Is there anything else I can do?

You may not be able to find who the bond belongs to but if you have the actual bond number you should be able to see if there are any unclaimed prizes dating back to 1957.

https://www.nsandi.com/get-to-know-us/winning-bonds-downloads