NS&I bereavement: how to claim savings, Premium Bonds and investments after a death
This guide covers how to claim premium bonds after death, what the NS&I bereavement form asks for, how long NS&I takes, and what happens to every other product from Direct Saver to Income Bonds. It also covers the 2026 NS&I tracing error.
Does Tell Us Once notify NS&I?
No, Tell Us Once does not notify NS&I. Tell Us Once passes a death to HMRC, DWP and local council departments, but NS&I sits outside that network. You have to contact NS&I separately, whether or not you used Tell Us Once when you registered the death.
This catches families out, because NS&I products are common. Around 22 million people in the UK hold Premium Bonds. Many also hold a Direct Saver, a Direct ISA or savings certificates that nobody thinks about in the first fortnight.
How do you find out if someone held NS&I savings or premium bonds?
Start with the paperwork. Prize letters, annual statements and any post from Blackpool, where NS&I operations are based, will confirm what the person held. Bank statements come next, because interest payments and transfers from NS&I accounts show up on them.
If you find nothing, call NS&I on 08085 007 007 and ask whether an account exists. The line is open 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 6pm at weekends. NS&I cannot make formal changes to an account over the phone, so the call confirms holdings only.
My Lost Account searches banks and building societies, and does not search NS&I directly. A separate NS&I enquiry is always needed.
How do you claim premium bonds after death?
You claim by completing NS&I's bereavement form, either online or on paper, and the same form covers every NS&I product the person held. You do not need an NS&I account of your own to use the online version. The Financial Ombudsman has confirmed that NS&I does not accept formal notification of a death by phone alone.
Go to NS&I's bereavement page and complete the form online, or request a postal version. It asks for the following.
Personal details: the deceased's full name, date of birth, date of death and last address.
Previous names and addresses: all previous names, including a maiden name, and any previous addresses.
Spouse or civil partner: the name of any spouse or civil partner.
NS&I products: every product you believe was held, with account numbers if you have them, which are not essential.
Your own details: your name, your relationship to the deceased, and your authority as executor, administrator or next of kin.
Repayment details: the bank account NS&I should pay the money into.
If you do not have every account number, submit what you have anyway. NS&I searches for accounts that match the deceased's details and confirms what it finds. The form is built to identify holdings from personal details alone.
Include your authority as executor or administrator when you submit the form. If the role is new to you, what an executor of a will does sets out the wider duties.
NS&I asks you to send a registrar's copy of the death certificate, either the original or a certified copy, alongside the form. NS&I returns original and certified legal documents once it has made copies for its records (NS&I).
Do you need probate to claim premium bonds after death?
Not always. NS&I may request a grant of representation before releasing funds if the deceased's total NS&I holdings amount to £5,000 or more. Smaller holdings can often be repaid without probate.
Premium bonds probate threshold: £5,000 or more in total NS&I holdings, the point at which NS&I may ask for a grant of representation.
Under £5,000: often repaid without a grant, though NS&I retains the right to ask for one at any holding level.
No will: letters of administration do the same job, and NS&I treats that grant like a grant of probate.
Submit the bereavement claim even if you do not yet have a grant, because starting early shortens the wait. If a grant turns out to be needed, how to apply for probate walks through the application.
How long do NS&I bereavement claims take?
As of August 2026, NS&I quotes 8 weeks to respond to a bereavement claim. That is much longer than NS&I's historical average, which ran closer to 14 days. NS&I has said the extended timescale reflects a more thorough review process introduced after the 2026 tracing error uncovered systematic problems with bereavement claims.
If 8 weeks have passed and you have heard nothing, call NS&I on 08085 007 007 and chase the claim, which works better than waiting. If you are still dissatisfied once NS&I's internal complaints process is finished, the Financial Ombudsman Service can investigate.
What happens to premium bonds on death?
NS&I repays premium bonds after death at their full face value to the deceased's estate, because the bonds cannot be transferred to a new owner. The bonds stay in the monthly prize draw for up to 12 months from the date of death. Any prizes won in that window belong to the estate, and are paid by warrant to the person entitled to it.
NS&I is told of the death of a premium bond holder through the bereavement form, not by phone. That 12 month window is worth planning around where the holding is substantial, and what happens to premium bonds when someone dies covers the prize draw rules in full.
Can you transfer premium bonds to another person?
No, you cannot transfer premium bonds to another person, in life or on death. Some other NS&I products can be transferred, which matters where a surviving spouse or civil partner wants to keep a fixed rate or term. Here is how each product is treated.
Premium Bonds: cannot be transferred, repaid at full face value to the estate.
Direct Saver: cannot be transferred, repaid in full including accrued interest.
Direct ISA: cannot be transferred to a new holder.
Green Savings Bonds, Guaranteed Growth Bonds, Guaranteed Income Bonds, Income Bonds and savings certificates: can all be transferred to a new owner instead of being cashed in.
Every transfer still runs through the bereavement claim process. The form lets you name the products you know about, and NS&I adds any further holdings it identifies.
What happens to an NS&I ISA when someone dies?
An NS&I Direct ISA cannot be transferred to a new holder. If the deceased was married or in a civil partnership, the surviving spouse or civil partner can claim an Additional Permitted Subscription, an extra ISA allowance equal to the value of the ISA at the date of death.
The Additional Permitted Subscription is separate from the bereavement claim and must be arranged with the ISA provider. It lets the surviving partner keep the same level of tax sheltered savings even though the account closes. The same rule applies to ISAs held elsewhere, and what happens to an ISA when someone dies covers the detail.
Were estates underpaid in the 2026 NS&I tracing error?
Some were. In early 2026, NS&I announced that its bereavement claims system had in some cases failed to identify all the products held by a customer who had died. Estates that had already been through the process were underpaid as a result.
Confirmed by NS&I: approximately £367 million owed to around 34,000 estates, as at May 2026.
Potential exposure: up to £476 million and 37,500 estates, according to figures on NS&I's adviser portal.
Cases needing no action: all of them, unless the holding was under £10 or you believe the estate was missed entirely.
NS&I is working through these cases and writing to affected legal representatives by post. Each letter confirms the amount owed and includes interest accrued since the original claim. NS&I is not automatically issuing payment where the holding was under £10.
NS&I will never ask for bank account details in these letters. Treat any communication claiming to be from NS&I that requests bank information as potential fraud, and call 08085 007 007 before you respond. NS&I's page on returning money sets out what to do if you think you were affected.
Where do NS&I savings fit in the rest of the estate?
Every NS&I holding counts towards the value of the estate. You need a confirmed balance from NS&I before you can complete the IHT400 or a probate application accurately, and how to value an estate for probate explains how the figures fit together. Because NS&I takes up to 8 weeks to respond, send the claim at the same time as you notify the banks.
NS&I accounts sit apart from current accounts and ISAs held with commercial banks. Those providers each run their own bereavement process. The who to notify when someone dies list covers government departments, financial providers, utilities and digital accounts in one place.
For free, impartial guidance on money after a bereavement, MoneyHelper and Citizens Advice both offer support, and GOV.UK covers the wider process in its after a death section.
Frequently asked questions
Premium bonds do not pass to a new owner on death, so in that sense they die with the holder. NS&I repays the full face value of the bonds to the deceased's estate, and the estate then passes that money on under the will or under the intestacy rules.
Yes. The executor or administrator can cash in premium bonds after death by completing NS&I's bereavement form, and NS&I repays the full face value to the estate. You cannot cash them in over the phone, because NS&I does not accept formal notification of a death by phone alone.
Yes. NS&I's bereavement form can be completed online at nsandi.com, and you do not need an NS&I account of your own to use it. You can also request a postal version if you would rather send paper. The same form covers premium bonds and every other NS&I product.
The NS&I contact number is 08085 007 007, open 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 6pm at weekends. NS&I can confirm whether the person held products and can chase a claim, but cannot make formal changes to an account or accept a death notification by phone.
Where there is no will, the person entitled to administer the estate completes NS&I's bereavement form as administrator rather than executor. NS&I may ask for letters of administration before releasing funds where total NS&I holdings are £5,000 or more, so apply for the grant early if the holdings are large.
No. A My Lost Account premium bonds search returns nothing, because the service covers banks and building societies rather than NS&I. To trace NS&I holdings you have to make a separate enquiry, either by calling 08085 007 007 or by submitting the bereavement form with the details you have.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Individual circumstances vary. If you are dealing with an estate, consider taking advice from a solicitor who specialises in probate. For other guidance specific to your circumstances, speak to a funeral director, Citizens Advice, or a regulated financial adviser.