NS&I and dealing with them
Discussion
OK, a bit of background.
My father died last year. He had an ISA with NS&I. He is survived by his wife (my mother), who due to neurological condition needs 24 hour care and now lives in a care home about 150 miles away from me. She is of completely sound mind, but I have power of attorney (enduring, not lasting - which, as it turns out is not very enduring!)
I have been trying to organise moving the ISA into my mother’s name. She has an ISA with NS&I already so I assumed it would be relatively simple to transfer things either into her ISA or to a separate one with NS&I, keeping its tax free status (APS, I believe).
I have found them the most impossible and obfuscating company to deal with. I have read stories of them reducing bereaved relatives to tears (of frustration, no doubt) trying to sort things out and I can well believe it.
Firstly I have to give special mention to their stupid “AI” phone triaging system, which attempts to talk to you as if it were a real person but is woefully inadequate and extremely patronising. I want to punch walls every time a recording tells me “I’m sorry to hear that” when I say it’s regarding a bereavement. Fortunately/unfortunately I have had to call so many times that I am quite good at saying the keywords that will get me through to the right department (although he first few times I called obviously I was put through to the wrong places and had to be transferred manually).
The biggest problem is the complete lack of clarity of the procedure - at no point has anybody told me what the process would involve, and I have been told many different things. Everything has to be done by post, and their forms are delightfully ambiguous and don’t allow for complications in living arrangements/postal addresses/ability to sign forms/power of attorney.
Some of the issues were not their fault - paperwork being 150 miles away, not being able to find the marriage certificate, getting it countersigned etc., but due to the drip feeding of information to me nothing has been easy.
It took several months, letters and phone calls to establish that I needed to fill in a form and send it in with a certified copy of the marriage certificate (which was a mission to find) - this wasn’t told to me when I initially sent in the grant of probate which was a shame as it meant having to do another round of paperwork.
Once this was done, I was sent another inherited allowance form which was rather confusing as it seemed to add nothing to the one I’d just completed. Gave them a call and after much chin scratching they couldn’t decide why it had been sent out as everything looked OK. The case had been closed (!) so they reopened it and assured me that everything was in hand.
The next communication I received was a letter that I really couldn’t understand even after reading it several times. I’d like to think that I am not unintelligent - I’m sure it makes sense if you work in finance/tax but it appeared to be asking me to open a new ISA (complete with a repayment form) which thoroughly confused me.
So I’ve just been on the phone to them again for half an hour (after the first agent cut me off). I had to have an argument about the date my dad died as it seems somebody misread my previous form and transposed 2 digits so that was helpful. It seems the latest state of affairs is that I need to complete the form to organise repayment into a normal account. Then I need to open an ISA and transfer the money in but apparently this will keep the tax free status. It has to be opened online, but my mum has never had online access to it. I can’t organise that as I don’t have the correct power of attorney. So I need to wait until I’m with mum and ring them to organise online access so that she can say “yes” a couple of times and confirm her date of birth.
Every time I need a signature from my mum I need wait until I next see her or drive a 300 mile round trip. Every time I need to send a form I need to spend another £1.65 on a first class stamp. It’s not even that much money in the ISA!
Does it really need to be this difficult? This situation must happen literally every day of the week. Even if it is this complex, why can they not be clearer? Why can’t they outline the entire process at the start rather than drip feeding it.
I suppose this is more of a rant than anything else, but my god it has been hard work.
My father died last year. He had an ISA with NS&I. He is survived by his wife (my mother), who due to neurological condition needs 24 hour care and now lives in a care home about 150 miles away from me. She is of completely sound mind, but I have power of attorney (enduring, not lasting - which, as it turns out is not very enduring!)
I have been trying to organise moving the ISA into my mother’s name. She has an ISA with NS&I already so I assumed it would be relatively simple to transfer things either into her ISA or to a separate one with NS&I, keeping its tax free status (APS, I believe).
I have found them the most impossible and obfuscating company to deal with. I have read stories of them reducing bereaved relatives to tears (of frustration, no doubt) trying to sort things out and I can well believe it.
Firstly I have to give special mention to their stupid “AI” phone triaging system, which attempts to talk to you as if it were a real person but is woefully inadequate and extremely patronising. I want to punch walls every time a recording tells me “I’m sorry to hear that” when I say it’s regarding a bereavement. Fortunately/unfortunately I have had to call so many times that I am quite good at saying the keywords that will get me through to the right department (although he first few times I called obviously I was put through to the wrong places and had to be transferred manually).
The biggest problem is the complete lack of clarity of the procedure - at no point has anybody told me what the process would involve, and I have been told many different things. Everything has to be done by post, and their forms are delightfully ambiguous and don’t allow for complications in living arrangements/postal addresses/ability to sign forms/power of attorney.
Some of the issues were not their fault - paperwork being 150 miles away, not being able to find the marriage certificate, getting it countersigned etc., but due to the drip feeding of information to me nothing has been easy.
It took several months, letters and phone calls to establish that I needed to fill in a form and send it in with a certified copy of the marriage certificate (which was a mission to find) - this wasn’t told to me when I initially sent in the grant of probate which was a shame as it meant having to do another round of paperwork.
Once this was done, I was sent another inherited allowance form which was rather confusing as it seemed to add nothing to the one I’d just completed. Gave them a call and after much chin scratching they couldn’t decide why it had been sent out as everything looked OK. The case had been closed (!) so they reopened it and assured me that everything was in hand.
The next communication I received was a letter that I really couldn’t understand even after reading it several times. I’d like to think that I am not unintelligent - I’m sure it makes sense if you work in finance/tax but it appeared to be asking me to open a new ISA (complete with a repayment form) which thoroughly confused me.
So I’ve just been on the phone to them again for half an hour (after the first agent cut me off). I had to have an argument about the date my dad died as it seems somebody misread my previous form and transposed 2 digits so that was helpful. It seems the latest state of affairs is that I need to complete the form to organise repayment into a normal account. Then I need to open an ISA and transfer the money in but apparently this will keep the tax free status. It has to be opened online, but my mum has never had online access to it. I can’t organise that as I don’t have the correct power of attorney. So I need to wait until I’m with mum and ring them to organise online access so that she can say “yes” a couple of times and confirm her date of birth.
Every time I need a signature from my mum I need wait until I next see her or drive a 300 mile round trip. Every time I need to send a form I need to spend another £1.65 on a first class stamp. It’s not even that much money in the ISA!
Does it really need to be this difficult? This situation must happen literally every day of the week. Even if it is this complex, why can they not be clearer? Why can’t they outline the entire process at the start rather than drip feeding it.
I suppose this is more of a rant than anything else, but my god it has been hard work.
In January '24 I updated my Premium Bonds to bank transfer instead of warrant payment. In August, they told me that I had to claim an unpaid £100 prize from Febuary that I could only claim by post.
So I wrote a letter, pointing out that I had changed payment method a month before this prize was won and why had they not acted upon my instructions?........
The £100 appeared in my bank account the following week!
So I wrote a letter, pointing out that I had changed payment method a month before this prize was won and why had they not acted upon my instructions?........
The £100 appeared in my bank account the following week!
I can't add much other than to say I've had (so far) the opposite experience with them. When my Grandparents died I was acting as an executor and on both occasions found them easy to deal with.
Some of the other establishments required far more jumping through hoops to get stuff sorted. I think it was the post office where I had to send them various documentation as well as a photo of the front and rear of my Drivers licence and a selfie of me holding said licence.
Some of the other establishments required far more jumping through hoops to get stuff sorted. I think it was the post office where I had to send them various documentation as well as a photo of the front and rear of my Drivers licence and a selfie of me holding said licence.
I have POA for my 90+ yr old aunt. Sold her house last year. Bought £50k PBs and a guaranteed growth bond she had matured so re invested that. Had cause to phone them twice. Once on Monday to pay PB prizes into her bank and not send a cheque.
The website is awkward and clunky but got through on phone with ease and spoke to a more mature sounding Geordie lass.
Completed the feedback as a satisfied customer.
UNLIKE some of the Investment Co's I've had to deal with it's been OK, no: good so far.
The website is awkward and clunky but got through on phone with ease and spoke to a more mature sounding Geordie lass.
Completed the feedback as a satisfied customer.
UNLIKE some of the Investment Co's I've had to deal with it's been OK, no: good so far.
I've been trying to work out how I can have my premium bond winnings paid into a nominated account rather than receive a cheque but I don't seem to have a PB online account. I presume it's because my PBs were bought whilst the internet was in its infancy and NS&I didn't have a presence.
I do have a couple of bonds invested with NS&I and so far depositing and withdrawls has been faultless.
I've given up and will just keep receiving any winnings by cheque.
I do have a couple of bonds invested with NS&I and so far depositing and withdrawls has been faultless.
I've given up and will just keep receiving any winnings by cheque.
Condolence's for your Father.
I share your rant /pain as I went through something similar when acting as LPA for a relative.
I lost patience much quicker than you and emailed the CEO / MP responsible and also their complaints dept.
Even doing this which yielded results it still took twice as long as any other Financial institution to sort.
I share your rant /pain as I went through something similar when acting as LPA for a relative.
I lost patience much quicker than you and emailed the CEO / MP responsible and also their complaints dept.
Even doing this which yielded results it still took twice as long as any other Financial institution to sort.
I had a couple of ancient Post Office managed accounts with NS&I, originally set up in the 1980s. A blue book 'current account' and a grey book 'investment account'. Neither had been touched since the early 1990s. I think it took about a year to convince them I was the owner and that I wanted to withdraw any remaining monies (which wasn't much, maybe £300 total). Letters back and forth, forms printed out and sent back and forth, proof of addresses and so on.
Eventually, I did prevail - but it wasn't easy and somehow ended up opening a new savings account with them, and having the money added to that. Once that was done, it was easier as it was accessible via internet banking. Request to close account, nominate where to send it, done.
Eventually, I did prevail - but it wasn't easy and somehow ended up opening a new savings account with them, and having the money added to that. Once that was done, it was easier as it was accessible via internet banking. Request to close account, nominate where to send it, done.
I did probate for my father in law and they were the last to transfer proceeds to the executor. I dealt with numerous financial institutions involving loan trusts, AIM shares, banking, pensions, utilities but this lot get the prize for being the most useless out there apart from HMRC of course who run them a close second.
I had an issue a few years ago, long story short
stuck the maximum into premium bonds (short term measure maybe up to a year) money was taken from my account, for some reason I can't quite remember bonds weren't showing anywhere, when I chased them up it was an absolute nightmare, they were telling me that I hsd no account with them and didn't know what I was talking about....
Panic, where's my 50k then?
Turned out they had declined the transfer for some reason and the 50k wasn't in their account and wasn't in mine, took a few days and much gnashing of teeth and phone calls back and forth twixt bank and those useless t
ts in Liverpool for the funfs to eventually show in my account.
Vowed to never ever deal with them again. Feckless the lot of them...
stuck the maximum into premium bonds (short term measure maybe up to a year) money was taken from my account, for some reason I can't quite remember bonds weren't showing anywhere, when I chased them up it was an absolute nightmare, they were telling me that I hsd no account with them and didn't know what I was talking about....
Panic, where's my 50k then?
Turned out they had declined the transfer for some reason and the 50k wasn't in their account and wasn't in mine, took a few days and much gnashing of teeth and phone calls back and forth twixt bank and those useless t
ts in Liverpool for the funfs to eventually show in my account.Vowed to never ever deal with them again. Feckless the lot of them...
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