Premium bond holders told in error to cash in savings

About one in three local residents hold premium bonds, and many recently received an email or letter from National Savings and Investments, which operates the scheme.

The message told these holders that because they did not have UK bank accounts, they would no longer be able to continue holding their bonds and would have to cash them in.

‘Since the Brexit transition period ended on 31 December 2020, some banks and building societies in the UK have told their customers living in certain EU countries that they will no longer be permitted to hold their UK-based accounts,’ said the message.

‘As you live in one of those countries, we realise that this could affect your ability to continue holding your NS&I Premium Bonds and Income Bonds account(s).’

A spokesman for NS&I said that this information was relevant only to people living in EU countries: ‘It was sent to some of our customers based in Guernsey in error,’ he said.

‘Guernsey-based customers who received this communication can disregard it and do not need to take any further action.

‘NS&I apologises to these customers for any confusion and inconvenience caused.’

While there are 19,000 premium bond holders in Guernsey, there are 29,000 in Jersey. However, the message was not sent to Jersey customers, said the NS&I spokesman.

NS&I is a department of the UK government and as well as premium bonds it offers other government-backed savings and investment options. One premium bond costs £1 and each month all are entered into a draw where winners can receive cash prizes from £25 up to £1m. More than 21 million people own premium bonds, totalling £116 billion.

According to moneysavingexpert.com if you own a single £1 bond the chance of winning one of the two million pound prizes in a given month is one in about 58 billion. The chance of winning the jackpot in the UK National Lottery with a £1 ticket is one in about 45 million.