For as long as 17 years, National Savings and Investments sat on £367 million ($494 million) that belonged to people who had died — and their families were none the wiser. Now, after months of political pressure and the resignation of its chief executive, NS&I has finally begun writing to the estates it short-changed.
The government-backed savings provider confirmed on 19 May that around 34,000 estates were affected by what it termed an 'operational failure' in its bereavement claims process, according to MoneyWeek. When a family lodged a claim after a relative's death, NS&I's system failed to locate all of the deceased's accounts. Savings were left sitting untouched, invisible to the very people entitled to them.
