‘I was gifted a Premium Bond of £1 for my first birthday from my grandma,’ says Janice. ‘That was in 1970 and I have never won a thing.’
If I had a penny for every time I heard this kind of comment, I’d be a darned sight richer than Janice. She is one of many people I’ve spoken to since I started reporting on the shocking administrative failures at National Savings & Investments. Around 34,000 families have been unable to trace their loved ones’ accounts after their deaths. The total amount owed comes to £367 million.
The scandal prompted NS&I’s chief executive, Dax Harkins, to resign and the pensions minister, Torsten Bell, to make a contrite statement in the Commons. Bereaved families have been promised they will be reimbursed and compensated ‘where appropriate’.
‘There has been nothing for 40 years. My mum hoped the Premium Bonds would buy me a house’
But this isn’t the only way in which Premium Bonds have come up short. Even when folk successfully track down accounts from many moons ago, the amounts they uncover are often a let-down. For every rare winner of the maximum £1 million jackpot, there are thousands of bondholders whose microscopic nest eggs have come to nothing.
