NS&I to Repay £367 Million to 34,000 Estates in Bereavement Claims Scandal

7 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 19

NS&I said it will begin contacting about 34,000 affected estates in the coming weeks, with repayments of £367 million starting in the coming months and due to finish in the first half of next year.
Errors in identifying all savings products held by deceased customers meant thousands of bereavement claims were underpaid, leaving families and executors without the full value of relatives' holdings.
Affected estates with £10 or more will receive uplifts based on either accrued interest or the Bank of England base rate plus 1 percentage point, whichever is higher, and the payments will be exempt from inheritance and income tax.
NS&I also said families can seek reimbursement of reasonable legal costs caused by the delays; it says claimants do not need to act yet and that a stronger bereavement process introduced in January has fixed the error.
The scandal, which prompted the former chief executive's resignation in March, has intensified scrutiny of a government-backed savings institution whose 24 million customers rely on it for security and straightforward access to funds.

Can NS&I rebuild trust after its £367M payout, or are deeper systemic flaws still hidden?

How many other financial institutions are sitting on similar data management time bombs affecting bereaved families?