SORRY MARTIN, PREMIUM BONDS NOT SO SAFE AFTER ALL.

Doidle99

This is a cautionary tale about Premium Bonds. In Martin's blog he describes Premium Bonds as absolutely safe in that you cannot lose your initial investment however long you may have had them.

That has not been my experience!

I bought 40 bonds about 50 years ago and decided to check them a few weeks ago. I discovered that I could not check my numbers further back than 6 months without signing on for an internet account which I attempted. I was informed that I did not have an account as it had been cashed in 29 years ago. That was news to me. I asked how much it was cashed for and was told £2200!!. I evidently won some prizes and knew nothing about them. I certainly did not cash in the account. 

The fly in the ointment was the Royal Mail who changed my PostCode in 1990.  All subsequent NS&I mail was delivered elsewhere ( I know not where) but the recipient somehow highjacked my account and cashed it in. It certainly wasn't me as i would surely have remembered winnings of over $2000. The account was paid out by cheque and I have all my bank statements for that year which show no deposit of that kind.

NS&I refused to accept any responsibiliy so I complained to the Ombudsman. 

The investigator could find no fault with NS&I as there were are insufficient records available. My bank statements were deemed insufficient evidence.  Someone has stolen my account and I see no way of recovering the funds.  My only fault was to fail to update my address when the PostCode was changed.  Note that only the postcode changed, not the street address. Perhaps the Royal Mal are culpable.

This is a warning to all of you who may have bonds tucked away and long forgotton. Register online and check your account making sure you have the correct address.  Your bond account may otherwise unaccountably and irritrievably disappear. 

I was going to buy a large number of bonds for my grandchildren this Christmas but I have reconsidered as my money is (was) not as safe as Martin has claimed.

Emmia

Doidle99 said:

This is a cautionary tale about Premium Bonds. In Martin's blog he describes Premium Bonds as absolutely safe in that you cannot lose your initial investment however long you may have had them.

That has not been my experience!

I bought 40 bonds about 50 years ago and decided to check them a few weeks ago. I discovered that I could not check my numbers further back than 6 months without signing on for an internet account which I attempted. I was informed that I did not have an account as it had been cashed in 29 years ago. That was news to me. I asked how much it was cashed for and was told £2200!!. I evidently won some prizes and knew nothing about them. I certainly did not cash in the account. 

The fly in the ointment was the Royal Mail who changed my PostCode in 1990.  All subsequent NS&I mail was delivered elsewhere ( I know not where) but the recipient somehow highjacked my account and cashed it in. It certainly wasn't me as i would surely have remembered winnings of over $2000. The account was paid out by cheque and I have all my bank statements for that year which show no deposit of that kind.

NS&I refused to accept any responsibiliy so I complained to the Ombudsman. 

The investigator could find no fault with NS&I as there were are insufficient records available. My bank statements were deemed insufficient evidence.  Someone has stolen my account and I see no way of recovering the funds.  My only fault was to fail to update my address when the PostCode was changed.  Note that only the postcode changed, not the street address. Perhaps the Royal Mal are culpable.

This is a warning to all of you who may have bonds tucked away and long forgotton. Register online and check your account making sure you have the correct address.  Your bond account may otherwise unaccountably and irritrievably disappear. 

I was going to buy a large number of bonds for my grandchildren this Christmas but I have reconsidered as my money is (was) not as safe as Martin has claimed.

They didn't need to hijack your account, prizes were also paid by posting cheques out unless you'd opted to reinvest your winnings - by not keeping your records up to date, you're at least partly culpable.

I can see why NS&I aren't willing to reimburse you, the bonds may have been cashed in a long time ago, and cynically the fact they weren't paid into your bank account for which you have statements, doesn't mean the money wasn't paid to you correctly as you could have had an additional bank/savings account the money went to.

These days you can manage PBs online/by app so prizes are reinvested and documents are held electronically.

noitsnotme

This is a cautionary tale about keeping your personal details up to date! 🤷‍♂️

la531983

Yup, this is all your fault.

Sorry.

dgpur

Doidle99 said:

This is a cautionary tale about Premium Bonds. In Martin's blog he describes Premium Bonds as absolutely safe in that you cannot lose your initial investment however long you may have had them.

That has not been my experience!

I bought 40 bonds about 50 years ago and decided to check them a few weeks ago. I discovered that I could not check my numbers further back than 6 months without signing on for an internet account which I attempted. I was informed that I did not have an account as it had been cashed in 29 years ago. That was news to me. I asked how much it was cashed for and was told £2200!!. I evidently won some prizes and knew nothing about them. I certainly did not cash in the account. 

The fly in the ointment was the Royal Mail who changed my PostCode in 1990.  All subsequent NS&I mail was delivered elsewhere ( I know not where) but the recipient somehow highjacked my account and cashed it in. It certainly wasn't me as i would surely have remembered winnings of over $2000. The account was paid out by cheque and I have all my bank statements for that year which show no deposit of that kind.

NS&I refused to accept any responsibiliy so I complained to the Ombudsman. 

The investigator could find no fault with NS&I as there were are insufficient records available. My bank statements were deemed insufficient evidence.  Someone has stolen my account and I see no way of recovering the funds.  My only fault was to fail to update my address when the PostCode was changed.  Note that only the postcode changed, not the street address. Perhaps the Royal Mal are culpable.

This is a warning to all of you who may have bonds tucked away and long forgotton. Register online and check your account making sure you have the correct address.  Your bond account may otherwise unaccountably and irritrievably disappear. 

I was going to buy a large number of bonds for my grandchildren this Christmas but I have reconsidered as my money is (was) not as safe as Martin has claimed.

There are multiple failings indicated in your post… and they are all yours. Why not look for 50 years? Why not take action when your postcode changed?

Your experience is abnormal, and Premium Bonds remain absolutely safe to anyone with basic common sense.

GrubbyGirl_2

How can NS&I or indeed Royal Mail be responsible for your failings?  They would have sent cheques to the address you had given them.  It's taken you 29 years to realise, that's down to you not them.  Premium bonds are perfectly safe

vacheron

While I sympathise with the loss of your bonds. I think your headline is somewhat misleading.

If I bought a car in 1975 and left it in the lane beside my house and didn't check on it again for 50 years only to find it wasn't stll there in 2025, my post headline probably would not be "Sorry modern car industry, car security not so good after all.

There is always an expectation of at least a cursory level of due dilligence on the part of the owner of any posession. I don't think when Martin wrote his advice for new investors he was considering people who bought bonds 28 years before his website was even founded AND who were subject to possible criminal activity in 1996! 

I have lost money from my bank accounts on 3 occasions in my life (it does happen). In each case I had identified the loss within a week or two and contacted the relevant companies and had the missing monies reinstated. 

If I was calling Halifax now to ask why they had deducted a cheque I wrote to someone for £1,250 twice in 1997 (which they did), then I very much doubt I would be getting my money back.

Aretnap

Premium bonds are safe in the sense that NS&I is an arm of the UK government, so barring a nuclear war or some complete breakdown of society there is no risk of losing your money due to the institution going bankrupt, as there is with a bank (over the FSCS protection limit, at least).

It doesn't mean that there is zero risk of losing money due to someone else accessing your account, or simply losing track of your account due to changes of address etc, especially if you don't check them or update your details for decades. I don't believe anyone has ever made that claim.

After 29 years I fear it will be pretty much impossible to work out where the money went.

kimwp

This is a little bit like having given your house key to someone 29 years ago and them taking something from your house, now complaining to the lock manufacturers that the locks didn't protect the house.

dunstonh

The investigator could find no fault with NS&I as there were are insufficient records available. 

A reasonable outcome.   It may not be one you like, but it is reasonable nonetheless. 

 My bank statements were deemed insufficient evidence.  

They don't prove anything.    i.e. you could have multiple accounts and only show one of them.   Plus, back in the day, you could transfer cheques to someone else to go through their account.

This is a warning to all of you who may have bonds tucked away and long forgotton. Register online and check your account making sure you have the correct address.  Your bond account may otherwise unaccountably and irritrievably disappear. 

This is sensible advice and goes for pretty much anything you value.

I was going to buy a large number of bonds for my grandchildren this Christmas but I have reconsidered as my money is (was) not as safe as Martin has claimed.

The money is safe as long as you are safe with your money.   You were not.

wmb194

The usual outcome with these stories is that many people are terrible at record keeping and have even worse memories.