Premium Bonds

[Barquentine]

What does one do in the following situation?
Friends of my father-in-law once gave him a gift of two £1 premium bonds.
Father-in-law died a couple of years ago.
He never obtained a Premium Bond Holder's Number.
We have the originals.
On contacting NS&I and asking how to check if they had ever won a prize, they informed us these two bonds were still in the names of the original donors.
No further assistance or explanation was offered by NS& I.
Any ideas?

[TheWinner]

I'd say that if they are in the donors name, the bond's officially belong to them and they would have the holders number.

[Prudie]

I would go back to NS&I and see if you can get hold of someone more helpful. They must come across this kind of thing all the time.

Unless I've misconstrued (and apologies if I have) I expect these bonds were given a long time before holder's numbers existed. The donors may not even be alive anymore. When I was a child it was a common gift to receive a pound or so of Premium Bonds. I had to provide all the numbers of my £8 worth to get them assigned to me years later as an adult with a holder number.

[Canary42]

///No further assistance or explanation was offered ///

That I'm afraid is the modern way of doing business. Until a customer becomes a real PITA, Suppliers sit on their *** and do nothing.

[Canary42]

*** is a vernacular for back sides.

[Barquentine]

Thanks to all. Yes. Bonds were given in the 1970s. I used to get a £1 premium bond every birthday from my godfather, Uncle Geoff! So they are most likely still in the buyers' names. Luckily they included a small card with their names (it was 1972!). I managed to find them on Facebook. My next step will be to use the CEO emails website to find the email address for the head of NSI. You are quite right Canary42 which is why I go direct to the CEO. "Customer services" is a euphemism for automated chat bots or at best, humanoid automata. A.I. sucks.

[TheWinner]

There is information on their website about what happens to bonds if the holder dies. The bonds can stay in the draws for 12 months with any prizes won, paid to the estate (conditions apply obvs.)
https://www.nsandi.com/help/manage-money-for-others/customers-who-have-died

[Buenchico]

As TW effectively indicates, Premium Bonds only remain in the draw for 12 months after the death of the holder (with any winnings during that period being paid to their estate). Thereafter they can be cashed in by the executors of the estate (or by the beneficiaries that they've been passed to) but they can't win any prizes.

I'm in a similar position, in that I've got a few Premium Bonds in the name of my late mother, who died in 1985. They're effectively worthless, as they can't have won any prizes since 1986 and it's not worth the hassle of cashing them in just for a pound or two.

[wolf63]

I don't think that NS&I are being unhelpful.

These bonds are in someone else's name, they are still on their system as they have been able to trace them. They are not your bonds.

[dasherman]

It's not possible for someone to gift premium bonds they already own, to somebody else. They would have to sell them, give you the money, for you to buy them in your own name.

[Hopkirk]

It's not worth pursuing this as they are only worth £2, and haven't won any prizes.