Ns&I Cheque

[Deskdiary]

Didn't know where to put this.

I've just put a cheque in the postbox back to NS&I in Sunderland that was received at my house (the envelope was mixed-in with a number of others addressed to me so I just opened all of them without really looking).

The cheque is for £5,000, so a not inconsiderable sum.

The cheque is for the previous owner of my house....I bought my house from her in 2003, so she clearly hasn't updated her details (I don't know where she moved to or for that matter if she's still alive - she was in her mid-60s when I bought the house). This is the first time I've seen anything from NS&I in 20 years.

This got me thinking - does the £5k just simply go back into their coffers or do they try to find her through, e.g, the electoral roll, or if she's dead will they try to find relatives?

[Tilly2]

Ring them and ask them.

[Geoffrey13]

Good question. I think contractually they're obliged to try to find her, but of course there's possibly nobody to hold them to the contract. Perhaps somebody who really knows will be along soon.

[237SJ]

I doubt they would try to find her. It will just go into the pool of unclaimed prizes. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2022/11/find-unclaimed-premium-bonds-prizes-millions/

[Deskdiary]

I was just curious - but not curious enough to phone them.

It's been posted back so I think I've done my bit.

[Geoffrey13]

OH, I didn't realise it was a prize. Yes in that case into the unclaimed pot.

[bobbinwales]

She can always claim it so they have to put it to one side

[douglas9401]

I'd just like to say thanks for the prompt.
I went to check my own account only to find that my details were out of date and my reference number obsolete.

All sorted now, no wins lurking unfortunately.