Maia Davies
Live reporter

Image source, PA Media

Bereaved families who've faced delays accessing their loved ones' premium bonds will be compensated "where appropriate" - as well as getting their money back in full, the government says.

Around £470m of deposits and 37,500 customers have been affected by failures to trace the account details of some NS&I customers after they died, Pensions Minister Torsten Bell told MPs - an issue he has said the government had learned about in December.

In his statement to Parliament - which followed media reports of failings at the government-backed savings agency - Bell said its chief executive had resigned.

His replacement, Sir Jim Harra, will lead the work of reuniting people with their savings which, according to the minister, are "100% safe". Compensation could include compensatory interest, and more "complicated" cases will be looked at "case by case". Here's a fuller recap of Bell's comments.

Bereaved relatives have told the BBC of their difficulty trying to sort their loved ones' finances, including a woman's five-year struggle to access her father's premium bonds.

NS&I's customers include some 22 million holders of these bonds - which are the UK's most popular savings product, with more than £134bn held in them as of December 2025.

We're bringing our live coverage to a close - you can read more in our full story here.

Earlier, Torsten Bell said that problems with deceased holders' premium bonds could affect:

• 37,500 customers
• Relating to £476m in deposits
• With three-quarters of cases relating to the period between 2008 and 2025

As of December, there were 22 million premium holders, with more than £134bn saved.

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James Kelly
BBC News

Image source, Rhona Edwards

Rhona Edwards submitted a complaint to NS&I just this week over £50,000 worth of premium bonds belonging to her husband Alex, who died in November.

She told the BBC she had completed the paperwork requesting that the money be released in mid-February.

"They responded quickly saying they would be in touch again shortly. I am still waiting."

Rhona said the delay was "preventing me moving to finalise and close my husband's estate".

New boss, new plan to reunite fundspublished at 13:23 GMT 26 March

13:23 GMT 26 March

Kevin Peachey
Cost of living correspondent

Thousands of people, including bereaved families, have faced difficulties tracing and accessing savings – averaging £12,500.

Torsten Bell told MPs the cause of the problem is resolved, and so begins the work of reuniting people with those funds.

That will be done under a new chief executive, Sir Jim Harra – no stranger to criticism over customer service during his years in charge at HM Revenue and Customs.

He won’t have long to get things straightened out. A plan needs to be submitted to the Treasury in May.

Image source, House of Commons

Torsten Bell, pensions minister, has just spoken to Parliament about bereaved families not being able to access their relatives' premium bonds.

He said the Treasury was notified in December last year of a failure by NS&I to trace details of accounts for some customers who had died.

A review by NS&I of its 34m records has identified around £470m in deposits, and roughly 37,500 customers, being affected.

The government has set out three priorities for NS&I, Bell said:

• Addressing the cause of the tracing issues and finding a solution
• Reuniting beneficiaries of late customers with any funds that NS&I holds, including "compensation where appropriate"
• Completing its "challenging" business transformation programme, first put in place in 2020

Bell said Sir Jim Harra is taking over as interim chief executive of the bank "from today". The former boss, Dax Harkins, has resigned. Bell also said:

• "This issue is about tracing, not the security of any funds" held by NS&I, adding that "savings are 100% safe"
• "There is no need for individuals to waste money on a claims management company or solicitor"
• "NS&I has put in place a dedicated programme team and it's hired an additional 100 staff"
• "I want to reassure people that the onus is not on them - but on NS&I to act"

Torsten Bell again says the government will "ensure the appropriate compensation" is paid to customers, "along the lines of how the FCA [Financial Conduct Authority] encourages best practice".

He says that could include compensatory interest, as well as a "case-by-case basis" for "more complicated cases".

His assurance follows a question by Liberal Democrat Bobby Dean who asks Bell about how trust in the institution will be restored.

Bell insists "no funds have been misplaced" and customers are "entitled to every penny" owed, adding Jim Harra's review will lay out the lessons involved in rebuilding trust in the bank.

For the opposition, Mark Garnier asks what provisions have been made for any compensation due and who would pay for it.

He also asks Bell if bonuses had been paid during the period of "poor performance" at the bank - and whether any such payments would be recovered - and whether its former CEO had been sacked or resigned.

Bell responds by saying NS&I's former chief resigned today, and had not received a bonus last year.

In terms of compensation, Bell says the money set to be returned "belongs to those estates" with premium bonds - so there will be no cost to taxpayers.

"It is the right thing to do and that is what is going to take place."

As a reminder, Bell earlier said that - as well as returning people's money - "compensation where appropriate will be paid", without specifying numbers.

Image source, House of Commons

Bell says the third priority for NS&I is "institutional", with the bank being asked to address tracing issues alongside completing its "challenging" business transformation programme that was put in place in 2020.

The finance minister says that David Goldstone, the independent Chair of the Office for Value for Money, has been appointed to support the bank to bring the programme "back on track".

Bell then says he has appointed Sir Jim Harra to take over as interim chief executive of NS&I "from today".

"I want to make sure NS&I has the best leadership in place," he says, thanking the outgoing CEO Dax Harkins for his years of public service.

He says Harra will undertake a review over the next three months to investigate the background to the tracing issue.

Bell says NS&I has reviewed over 34m customer records, and it points to up to a maximum of some £470m in deposits - and around 37,500 customers - affected.

This number is likely to fall in future and represents less than 0.2% of NS&I's customers, he says, but "it is still far too many".

"It is right that NS&I is apologising today."

He says the government's priorities are now three-fold - first, that the causes of the tracing issues are addressed and a solution is found.

Second, is to reunite beneficiaries of late customers with "any funds that NS&I holds".

"These deposits belong to customers - returning them in no way presents an additional liability to the taxpayer".

He says the savings are "100% safe" - the issue is tracing, not the security of funds.

Bell now says additional staff has been brought on to help track and deliver the savings, including interest.

Work will be done to ensure that "compensation where appropriate will be paid", he says, with the onus on the bank not customers.

Image source, House of Commons

Torsten Bell says on 18 December last year, NS&I notified the Treasury of a failure to trace the details of accounts of some customers who had passed away.

He says not all savings had been identified and passed onto beneficiaries "as they should've been".

He adds there have been historical challenges in the financial sector in this regard, but "what is now clear" is that NS&I and others did not act upon warnings to a degree expected by the government and its customers.

Pensions Minister Torsten Bell is now delivering a statement on NS&I in the House of Commons.

We'll bring you the key lines as we get them - or you can tap 'watch live' at the top of the page to follow along.

Image source, PA Media

• Pensions Minister Torsten Bell will address the Commons shortly about National Savings and Investment - a government agency that reports to the Treasury - after complaints from premium bonds holders
• One Essex man trying to arrange his late wife's finances says he was told to wait up to nine months for the issue to be resolved
• Another woman says it took five years to resolve her late father's premium bonds - and that "we were not entitled to wins that had been made in this time"
• The BBC understands that NS&I’s focus is likely to be on reuniting bereaved families with money it holds, rather than compensation
• About 37,000 NS&I customers are reported to be affected. NS&I's customers include 22 million holders of premium bonds - a savings account that doesn't pay interest, but that gives holders the chance of winning £1m every month
• You'll be able to watch the minister's statement live at the top of the page soon

James Kelly
BBC News

Image source, Tracy McGuire-Brown

Tracy McGuire-Brown from Newbury says it took NS&I three attempts to find the account for her late father.

The 61-year-old tells us: "It took me five years and a huge amount of distressing form filling, including sending the original will, original documents, all at my own expense to try and locate my deceased father’s premium bonds.

"We were told that, even though they took years to sort this out, at great distress to us, that we were not entitled to wins that had been made in this time.

"The final insult was this year when we finally received the monies: a letter stating it should be used to clear any debts my father had and be used towards funeral expenses. He had died five years earlier."

She says NS&I later sent her £150 for the expense of sending the original documents by post, adding that she would never invest with the bank given the "appalling" experience she endured.

Kevin Peachey
Cost of living correspondent

When somebody dies, their family can use the Tell Us Once scheme, external in order to inform various authorities ranging from HM Revenue and Customs to the local council.

But – in the same way as banks – NS&I is not part of the scheme, so families need to contact it directly.

There are various details required, and a tracing service for lost investments, external. Clearly, the efficiency of these services is now being called into question.

And lots of premium bond prizes remain unclaimed.

James Kelly
BBC News

Image source, Phil Fraser

Phil Fraser from Leeds says dealing with NS&I on behalf of his bereaved 86-year-old mother Ruth left him "so frustrated".

The 62-year-old told the BBC he'd had a "dreadful service" concerning his late father's premium bonds, and in the end submitted a letter of complaint.

"Multiple forms submitted, extremely long holds on phones, incomprehensible customer service reps, ridiculous rules about bereavement departments not accepting calls.

"Of all the financial institutions we dealt with regarding my late father's estate, they were the worst."

Kevin Peachey
Cost of living correspondent

The BBC understands that NS&I’s focus is likely to be on reuniting bereaved families with money it holds.

Compensation when things have gone wrong seems not to be at the top of the agenda.

That might not sit well with people who have told the BBC about the long, arduous and – at times – expensive pursuit of their late loved one’s funds.

It also raises questions over whether these may lead to compensation claims as a result.

People keep premium bonds for decades - it seems that has caused a problempublished at 11:16 GMT 26 March

11:16 GMT 26 March

Kevin Peachey
Cost of living correspondent

For many families, premium bonds have been part of their finances for decades – the kind of product bought young and kept for decades.

The attraction has been, in part, the security of these savings. A government-owned bank will not go bust. Hence, NS&I’s popularity at times of trouble, such as the financial crisis of 2008.

It seems that customer loyalty - and the length of time some of these accounts have been held for - has led NS&I to lose track and control of some of the details.

So bereaved families, as we are hearing, have faced huge difficulties trying to access those funds.

The controversy facing NS&I comes just weeks after a parliamentary committee criticised the institution, external over rising costs and delays to a project to modernise its systems.

The public accounts committee said NS&I was "over-confident about its ability to deliver the programme", the costs of which hit an estimated £3 billion in 2024, "with little evidence to support this confidence".

"It has no workable plan for it after five years, and no idea of its eventual cost," the committee said in a February report.

The committee said customers would be at risk if the programme, which began in 2020, was unsuccessful.

James Kelly
BBC News

Peter Attwell, 71, from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, is struggling to get help from NS&I while sorting out the financial affairs of his late brother, who died in early January without a valid will.

He says his 94-year-old mother, who has dementia, is the next of kin to his brother.

Attwell tells us: "She has no capacity and therefore cannot sign the paperwork. NS&I appear to be stalling.

"I was asked yesterday to phone back in two weeks as they are still dealing with post from mid-February.

"That will take it to three months since first contact. Completely unacceptable!"

Image source, Peter Attwell

James Kelly
BBC News

Kevin Jones from Harlow, Essex, has encountered problems with NS&I following the death of his wife last month.

The 68-year-old tells us: "My wife died on 17 February. I contacted NS&I after completing a bereavement form online and getting no confirmation.

"I was told that, unlike all the other financial institutions I'd been in contact with, they didn't acknowledge whether or not they had received the information.

"When I asked how long I should wait for the matter to be resolved, I was told between six and nine months."

When Jones queried long delays, he says he was told the savings bank was "short staffed".

Image source, Kevin Jones