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Original poster

Shocking situation at NS&I

47 replies

JanuaryJonez · 30/01/2021 23:19

My parents have £45,000 invested with NS&I which they were expecting to release to pay a very large bill that is due imminently.

They went on their website but when they put in their account number it said the account was postal only.

They then rang customer services and hung on for about 40 minutes before they were told that they had to print out a form and send it by post to the other end of the UK, which they did.

It's been over a week now and no money has appeared so I called NS&I again on their behalf. When I got through (after waiting another 40 or so minutes) I was told that, as the account was postal only, he could only give me limited information. He confirmed that they'd received the form and that a letter had been sent back to them requiring a signature, which they then have to post back.

It's a shockingly poor and quite unnecessary process and my parents are now very worried that the money won't be released in time. I've now Googled NS&I and it seems there are legions of people who currently can't get their savings out of NS&I because of either technical or customer service issues.

I'm starting to think it's a massive conspiracy and not sure what to do next - contact my MP, the tabloids..!

I just wondered if anyone on here has had a similar or hopefully a more positive experience with them. I feel so bad for my parents - they really deserve better after investing so much with them. You can't email them and live chat isn't available to postal-only customers like them, so our only option is to hang on for ages only to be given limited information.

OP posts:
MaxRushden · 30/01/2021 23:23

There's been a lot in the press, lots of people in the same situation.

Apparently service standards started to slip as they were briefly giving the best interest rates and then they got inundated.

I had to deal with them for probate in 2019 and they were great, such a shame it's come to this.

Good luck.

HeronLanyon · 30/01/2021 23:24

Oo er.
I have quite a bit invested with them in premium bonds. And a savings type account. As the protected limits are above those with high street banking groups.

Mine are all done on line and I’ve never had trouble at all. Eight laying money in or transferring it out.

Hope it sorts itself out op.

MeanMrMustardSeed · 30/01/2021 23:24

Did your parents know they were postal only customers?

nothingnessandeverything · 30/01/2021 23:25

It's a pain but I had to do the exact same thing to get a (much smaller investment) my parents had in my name for me. I scanned a copy of the form I was sending back to keep for my own reference and sent the form recorded delivery. To be fair, the money came in pretty quickly when that was sent away. But I agree the the whole process is massively frustrating and more difficult than it needs to be. I hope they get their money soon!

Original poster
JanuaryJonez · 30/01/2021 23:32

Sending by recorded delivery is a good tip - I just wish NS&I would do the same! My parents live in an apartment with a very confusing address and things can go to the wrong building. I just wish it could be done the way most banks operate - so archaic.

OP posts:
MiddlesexGirl · 30/01/2021 23:34

Never had a problem with them.
Had various investments over the years. Always paid out on time or rolled over seamlessly.

RogueV · 30/01/2021 23:34

I have never had a problem with them

Original poster
JanuaryJonez · 30/01/2021 23:36

No, they had no idea they were postal only - they've had the investment for decades.

OP posts:
ItsGoingTibiaK · 30/01/2021 23:36

NS&I are very upfront and clear that some of their accounts are postal only and what the process is for managing these by post. They also make it clear that they can’t be managed online or on the phone - hence the name. Unless the process has changed since your parents opened the account, I can’t see how they could have done it without realising what postal only meant.

Do you feel your parents have been tricked into opening a postal account when they wanted a different product, or that it wasn’t made clear to them what the process of managing the account would be?

Their website has a calculator for estimating the timescales for receiving withdrawals from various types of account.

Original poster
JanuaryJonez · 30/01/2021 23:40

@ItsGoingTibiaK your name is reassuring!

It's just so complicated compared to regular bank accounts and reading that loads of other people have had issues was making me very worried. The positive accounts on here are helping!

OP posts:
BlueTimes · 30/01/2021 23:40

I don’t think it’s shocking. They are just overwhelmed and struggling through a pandemic. The postal system is also not as quick as usual so it’s all taking a while longer. I don’t know what you think your MP or the tabloids will do. NS&I has confirmed they are dealing with it. I think you just need to have a little patience.

Perhaps it’s time for your parents to change over any of their other savings to one of the online accounts to make it quicker and easier in future.

MaxRushden · 30/01/2021 23:44

@JanuaryJonez NS&I managers did apologise at the end of last year and said they were bringing in new staff and working hard to make things better, they acknowledged how poor things had been recently for some customers.

Hopefully these changes take effect very soon or have already happened.

Palavah · 30/01/2021 23:44

@JanuaryJonez

My parents have £45,000 invested with NS&I which they were expecting to release to pay a very large bill that is due imminently.

They went on their website but when they put in their account number it said the account was postal only.

They then rang customer services and hung on for about 40 minutes before they were told that they had to print out a form and send it by post to the other end of the UK, which they did.

It's been over a week now and no money has appeared so I called NS&I again on their behalf. When I got through (after waiting another 40 or so minutes) I was told that, as the account was postal only, he could only give me limited information. He confirmed that they'd received the form and that a letter had been sent back to them requiring a signature, which they then have to post back.

It's a shockingly poor and quite unnecessary process and my parents are now very worried that the money won't be released in time. I've now Googled NS&I and it seems there are legions of people who currently can't get their savings out of NS&I because of either technical or customer service issues.

I'm starting to think it's a massive conspiracy and not sure what to do next - contact my MP, the tabloids..!

I just wondered if anyone on here has had a similar or hopefully a more positive experience with them. I feel so bad for my parents - they really deserve better after investing so much with them. You can't email them and live chat isn't available to postal-only customers like them, so our only option is to hang on for ages only to be given limited information.

That's what they signed up to with a postal account.

Given lockdown you might reasonably expect any paper-based servicong to be significantly delayed so hopefully factored that into the notice you gave to withdraw.

If 12 weeks have elapsed since the initial postal request you can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service.

ThreeFeetTall · 30/01/2021 23:47

If they opened an account decades ago...I guess they did it by post??
The delays must be very frustrating but this is a postal delay/slow customer service issue. Not a conspiracy! I think we've all got used to how easy things are online now but they've got an older style account. I hope it works itself out soon.

Original poster
JanuaryJonez · 30/01/2021 23:51

@ThreeFeetTall I started to think it was a conspiracy after Googling it and finding out about masses of customers struggling to release funds over the past few months. Most of these had more modern, online based accounts.

OP posts:
blue25 · 31/01/2021 00:09

I’ve never had a problem with them, they’re probably just busy. I would never sign up to a postal only service though!

ThreeFeetTall · 31/01/2021 00:11

Less of a conspiracy maybe if everyone is having the same crap customer service?Sounds like a rubbish situation all round

BackforGood · 31/01/2021 00:14

You are over reacting.
If you choose to have a postal account, then it isn't unreasonable to expect to only be able to then withdraw money by post. I mean, it does what it says on the tin. Confused as to why you think it would be otherwise, or what you think the tabloids or your MP would do about it ?

Saying 'they have had it for decades' sort of sums it up. Everyone should have a look at their accounts regularly, to check they are delivering what they require - be that interest rates or easy access or whatever. Your parents might be elderly now, but they presumably weren't 'decades' ago, when the habit of checking in on your investments might have been formed.

Tartyflette · 31/01/2021 00:25

I recently cashed in a chunky amount of my NS&I income bonds online, the funds were in my account the next working day.
I also cashed in some premium bonds a few years ago now. I filled in an encashment form I got from the post office, sent it off, and the funds were paid into my account about three or four days later. I don't think that was too bad.
Something seems to have gone wrong with your parents' request if they now need to sign something (again?) Could they have missed the signatures off the first time it was sent in?

MrDarcysMa · 31/01/2021 00:27

I don't think it's shocking op. It's a postal only account and presumably HQ will be running on a skeleton staff and there are postal delays. It's unfortunate but not shocking.

ErrolTheDragon · 31/01/2021 00:32

I recently cashed in a small amount of premium bonds online just to make sure it was all working ok - it was.

Some of the delay, them sending back for a signature presumably to the address registered for the account, sounds like it may be security feature which given the amount of money sounds like maybe a good idea. In these days of fraud and identity theft I might be worried if there wasn't something like that tbh.

Tartyflette · 31/01/2021 00:38

Up to quite late last year some interest rates NS&I were paying were out of line with most rates available elsewhere and so people were piling into various savings products.
This led to NS&I having problems handling the very large numbers of applications to buy investments and people were complaining their applications were taking a long while to be processed.

Original poster
JanuaryJonez · 31/01/2021 00:54

These replies are very reassuring, thank you!

It's one of about four tricky financial things that have landed on me this month as my parents are just too old to deal with it. Don't get me started on selling their shares...

It's also making me realise (and there's been a lot about this in the media recently) just how bloody sorted my parents were financially than me at an equivalent age to be able to invest this much.

OP posts:
Original poster
JanuaryJonez · 31/01/2021 00:57

I think we're meant to be the first generation since Victorian times to not have done better than our parents...

OP posts:
Trumplosttheelection · 31/01/2021 12:10

Oh dear my mum needs to deal with them re a relatives estate, the whole estate is the savings, not huge In the scheme of things but it looks like they can ask for probate. If we don't need it for anything else do you think they will insist? I do hope it's not going to be slow.

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