National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has been urged to sign up to a scheme that helps simplify the process of notifying organisations following a death, as part of its efforts to unite ‘lost’ pots of money with their owners.
Last month, Money Mail revealed more than 2.5 million Premium Bond prizes worth around £105 million remain unclaimed.
This includes 11 prizes of £100,000, 19 of £50,000, 38 of £25,000 and 75 of £10,000.
The Treasury-backed bank highlighted the importance of customers updating details and opting to have prizes paid directly into bank accounts.
NS&I said in the financial year 2024-25, more than £166million was reunited through 52,693 NS&I accounts for holders who had lost touch with their savings and investments, thanks to its tracing service and My Lost Account.
This includes more than £120 million in Premium Bonds savings and unclaimed prizes, £11.4 million paid out from old savings certificates and £1.3 million from old children’s bonus bonds.
Lost pots: Last month, Money Mail revealed more than 2.5 million Premium Bond prizes worth around £105m remain unclaimed
But consumer group Which? now wants it to sign up to Tell Us Once, the free notification service which allows you to report a death to most governments departments in one go.
It can be used to notify organisations such as HMRC and the DVLA about a death if the person who died was living in England, Scotland or Wales.
Local authorities including Kent, Reading and Norfolk offer the service on their websites.
Sam Richardson, deputy editor of Which? Money, says: ‘NS&I has a real opportunity to set an example for the wider industry, and could potentially stand to make the process smoother if it were to join the Tell Us Once service.’
NS&I said it has successfully paid out over 99 per cent of all Premium Bonds prizes to its winners
since 1957. Most unclaimed prizes are won by holders who have not registered their details with NS&I or who have moved without telling them, with cheques returned.
Of some 32,289 unclaimed prizes in January 2024, the majority were sent to winners as cheques, according to NS&I.
A spokesperson for NS&I says: ‘We are not currently part of the Tell Us Once service, which focuses on updating government departments that provide services such as benefits, passports and pensions, rather than banking services and investments, which often require more individualised contact with executors.’
