Overview
- NS&I started sending letters to affected estates from 27 May and says contact work will continue into 2027 while payments follow soon after.
- The number and value of claims remain disputed with NS&I revising its own estimate down to 34,000 estates and a figure it gives as £367,000 while other outlets report a much larger £367 million total.
- NS&I will pay either the higher of interest accrued since the error or the Bank of England base rate plus one percentage point and says returned sums will be exempt from inheritance tax.
- The problem followed a new bereavement-tracing system introduced in January 2026 that NS&I says takes longer to run; the organisation has replaced its CEO with Sir Jim Harra, recruited 100 extra staff, and aims to restore normal service by autumn 2026.
- Families and executors are being urged to check records for Premium Bonds, bank accounts and pensions, use free tracing services such as the Death Notification Service and Gretel, and be prepared that late discoveries may require reopening an estate to redistribute funds.