NS&I bereavement claims
NS&I has identified an issue where the estates of deceased customers were not always repaid money from all of their accounts following a bereavement claim.
These errors happened because the search process used when handling a bereavement claim failed to identify all NS&I products. The issue has been resolved for current and new bereavement claims and robust measures have been introduced to ensure this does not happen again.
NS&I apologises and is extremely sorry for these errors. It is working hard to ensure everybody affected is paid what is owed to them. Families, beneficiaries and deceased customers’ estates do not need to take any immediate action. NS&I will contact estates that are affected and will publish further information for the beneficiaries of those estates in due course.
NS&I estimates that up to 37,500 bereavement claims with a total value of up to £476 million in customer deposits may have been affected. Notwithstanding this issue, in 2025, NS&I received 211,800 new bereavement claims and repaid £4 billion. This equates to around two million bereavement claims over the last ten years.
NS&I will ensure customers’ estates are appropriately compensated. More details will be published in May.
The Minister for Pensions, Torsten Bell MP, has announced that he has appointed Sir Jim Harra, former HMRC First Permanent Secretary, to take over as Chief Executive of NS&I on an interim basis, to provide a fresh start for NS&I’s next phase of development.
Notes to editors
- NS&I holds over £240 billion in customer deposits (total stock).
- In 2025, NS&I received 211,800 new bereavement claims and repaid £4 billion.
- NS&I is one of the largest savings organisations in the UK, offering a range of savings and investments to more than 24 million customers. All products offer 100% capital security, because NS&I is backed by HM Treasury.
- Further information on NS&I, including press releases, can be found on the NS&I website.
- NS&I photography and logos are available to download from the media website.
