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Re: Premium Bonds

Posted: August 12th, 2017, 9:14 pm
by Bouleversee
Yes, it seems to be collapsing all round. I have had no end of problems cashing in my late husband's index linked certificates; they take ages to reply to letters, don't answer queries properly or follow instructions, keep you on the phone for ages while one department speaks to another, only to find the relevant person is only part time, etc. etc. Actually, I think the whole country is collapsing. Everything seems to be run by incompetents.

Re: Premium Bonds

Posted: August 12th, 2017, 11:55 pm
by Halicarnassus
I automatically have my winnings reinvested which seems to go without a hitch.

Re: Premium Bonds

Posted: August 12th, 2017, 11:56 pm
by swill453
I happened to be speaking to my brother tonight, he said he received warrants for this month's prizes in the post today.

Scott.

Re: Premium Bonds

Posted: August 13th, 2017, 1:19 pm
by XFool
swill453 wrote:I happened to be speaking to my brother tonight, he said he received warrants for this month's prizes in the post today.

That's what I was hoping for too. I'll just have to wait and see a bit longer.

Thanks.

Re: Premium Bonds

Posted: August 13th, 2017, 4:31 pm
by PinkDalek
XFool wrote:Oh well that's another matter!

The 'new' NS&I system and UI seem to be a dog's dinner to me. It crashed the last two times I tried purchasing bonds on line.


It has never crashed on me, though I recall you are/were using an out of date Windows XP Home or something similar (as do I).

Maybe you were unlucky or perhaps it is something to do with there being a difference between Premium Bond Holder's numbers (mine is 8 numbers followed by a letter) and your registered NS&I number (mine is 10 numbers). Hard to tell which of those you mean by UI.

I've just logged in and there is no problem for me in buying further premium bonds, except I didn't hit the go button.

I looked at changing the account to enabling payment of prizes direct to my bank account, as obviously that is the preferred option from now on. It said something like: "You can only enable this if we have your bank details". But they do have my bank details. So...


Who is the they in the situation described? Have you tried, say, to try and Pay money in to any other NS&I account you hold? I've had a quick look at my Account Details for Income Bonds and NS&I show my Bank and the last 4 digits of the bank account number. I then went via Pay Money in and got as far as:

Payment details

Please enter your card details below. The card must be in your name and issued by a UK bank


Similarly, my premium bond Account details show my bank account and Prizes Direct to my nominated account


It seems their current systems may be rather rough around the edges.


Perhaps you should try again.

Re: Premium Bonds

Posted: August 13th, 2017, 5:32 pm
by XFool
PinkDalek wrote:
XFool wrote:Oh well that's another matter!

The 'new' NS&I system and UI seem to be a dog's dinner to me. It crashed the last two times I tried purchasing bonds on line.

It has never crashed on me, though I recall you are/were using an out of date Windows XP Home or something similar (as do I).

No. I was using an "out of date" Windows 8 system with an up to date Opera browser! Without a doubt on the first occasion at least, it was their system that crashed, not my system. I cannot be sure the second time, but my PC etc was still working, so... Both times I phoned up and they told me to wait 24 hours to see if the transaction cleared (the money had left my bank account). Eventually it did, both times.

PinkDalek wrote:Maybe you were unlucky or perhaps it is something to do with there being a difference between Premium Bond Holder's numbers (mine is 8 numbers followed by a letter) and your registered NS&I number (mine is 10 numbers). Hard to tell which of those you mean by UI.

I had to be logged on to execute a purchase. By UI I mean the (relatively) new User Interface. It was updated some time ago now replacing the rather intricate, but reliable in my experience, original one. The usual reason: Smart phones. The usual result: A dull, dumb, flat, large, slow, undifferentiated UI.

PinkDalek wrote:I've just logged in and there is no problem for me in buying further premium bonds, except I didn't hit the go button.

I did. Do you feel lucky? :)

PinkDalek wrote:
I looked at changing the account to enabling payment of prizes direct to my bank account, as obviously that is the preferred option from now on. It said something like: "You can only enable this if we have your bank details". But they do have my bank details. So...

"Who is the they in the situation described?

Hopefully NS&I. But literally, the NS&I IT system.

PinkDalek wrote:Have you tried, say, to try and Pay money in to any other NS&I account you hold?

Not, as far as I can remember, using the 'new' system.

PinkDalek wrote:I've had a quick look at my Account Details for Income Bonds and NS&I show my Bank and the last 4 digits of the bank account number.

My Premium Bond account showed the last four digits of my bank account number too. Which is why I found the message confusing.

PinkDalek wrote:Similarly, my premium bond Account details show my bank account and Prizes Direct to my nominated account

Now, if only mine did.

PinkDalek wrote:
It seems their current systems may be rather rough around the edges.

Perhaps you should try again.

Only if I have to.

Re: Premium Bonds

Posted: August 13th, 2017, 6:01 pm
by PinkDalek
XFool wrote:
PinkDalek wrote:It has never crashed on me, though I recall you are/were using an out of date Windows XP Home or something similar (as do I).


No. I was using an "out of date" Windows 8 system with an up to date Opera browser! ...


Similar then, "out of date".

XFool wrote:
PinkDalek wrote:I've just logged in and there is no problem for me in buying further premium bonds, except I didn't hit the go button.

I did. Do you feel lucky? :)


Fully "invested". Unable to purchase more! ;)

XFool wrote:
PinkDalek wrote:I've had a quick look at my Account Details for Income Bonds and NS&I show my Bank and the last 4 digits of the bank account number.


My Premium Bond account showed the last four digits of my bank account number too. Which is why I found the message confusing.


Again, I'm sure it is me, but which message?

The one I see says Payment details Please enter your card details below. The card must be in your name and issued by a UK bank. That is asking how I would wish to fund the new tranche of premium bonds. It isn't saying they don't have a record of your designated account for repayments, prizes (ahem) etc.


XFool wrote:
PinkDalek wrote:Perhaps you should try again.

Only if I have to.


Your call of course.

I deliberately didn't mention the online system in my original reply, as it was too obvious an option.

Looks like you may have identified the problem as being a Smart Phone, if I've understood you correctly. I don't usually use those for such matters, being a bit of a luddite, but I'm sure you won't be complaining about NS&I and their UI, until you've tried again.

Re: Premium Bonds

Posted: August 13th, 2017, 6:49 pm
by XFool
PinkDalek wrote:
XFool wrote:
PinkDalek wrote:It has never crashed on me, though I recall you are/were using an out of date Windows XP Home or something similar (as do I).

No. I was using an "out of date" Windows 8 system with an up to date Opera browser! ...

Similar then, "out of date".

Irrelevant. The browser was fully up to date. Everything MS seems "out of date" about a month after it is released...

PinkDalek wrote:
XFool wrote:
PinkDalek wrote:I've just logged in and there is no problem for me in buying further premium bonds, except I didn't hit the go button.

I did. Do you feel lucky? :)

Fully "invested". Unable to purchase more! ;)

Which is, or at least the transition to this, the basis of my current issues.

PinkDalek wrote:
XFool wrote:
PinkDalek wrote:I've had a quick look at my Account Details for Income Bonds and NS&I show my Bank and the last 4 digits of the bank account number.

My Premium Bond account showed the last four digits of my bank account number too. Which is why I found the message confusing.

Again, I'm sure it is me, but which message?

The NS&I system response when I tried, online, to change to 'Pay prizes to my bank account'.

PinkDalek wrote:Looks like you may have identified the problem as being a Smart Phone, if I've understood you correctly. I don't usually use those for such matters, being a bit of a luddite, but I'm sure you won't be complaining about NS&I and their UI, until you've tried again.

No, not to using a smartphone. Rather the NS&I system was, I presume, updated to the current one because of the prevalence of smartphones. Most websites have now done this, I was simply commenting on its appearance and on my experience of using it on a PC, as a typical contemporary web user interface.

Re: Premium Bonds

Posted: August 13th, 2017, 7:09 pm
by PinkDalek
Aha, I think I follow now. I don't find LMF easy to read when the Topics spread over a number of pages. Especially on a smartphone. I thought at one stage you were talking about difficulties funding Premium Bond purchases and had overlooked you were also talking about receiving prizes. Perhaps the buggers are out to get you.

You are excused your "Irrelevant" btw. What followed made sense and it was not needed.

Re: Premium Bonds

Posted: August 18th, 2017, 11:40 am
by XFool
Right!

Today I have received by post a warrant for £25, for one prize won in the August draw, plus a "You've won!" leaflet*.

So the score to date is : £25 win reinvested in PBs; £24 of win reinvested in PBs (not yet notified); £25 win, warrant for cash.

So I'm still adrift by £1 winnings due to me from NS&I.


* With subtext: "And you've reached the limit you can reinvest"

Re: Premium Bonds

Posted: August 18th, 2017, 4:25 pm
by XFool
Grrr!

I know I am getting old but..... Why is it nowadays, every time I leave the house I find somebody has re-engineered the world in some way to make it just that little bit more annoying and frustrating than the last time I left the house?

So when did ordinary street ATMs stop taking deposits? I am sure it was only earlier this year I used the same one for just this purpose; for the same reason as this time, that the ATM inside the BS had a queue. Perhaps because more people are forced to use it as the external one does less.

I bet I will be stuck with this warrant for weeks now.

Bring back National Giro! I could just pop a cheque in an envelope and pop the envelope in the nearest pillar box.

Re: Premium Bonds

Posted: August 19th, 2017, 11:12 am
by XFool
Yippee!

Received £1 warrant in post today from third winning bond. So all settled now, though I do feel this situation could have been handled less confusingly and more smoothly.

Re: Premium Bonds

Posted: September 6th, 2017, 7:16 pm
by XFool
PinkDalek wrote:
XFool wrote:I looked at changing the account to enabling payment of prizes direct to my bank account, as obviously that is the preferred option from now on. It said something like: "You can only enable this if we have your bank details". But they do have my bank details. So...

Perhaps you should try again.

I have now. It seems you have to select the "Paperless" option before you can get prizes paid to your bank account.

Re: Premium Bonds

Posted: September 6th, 2017, 8:06 pm
by Bouleversee
So what? They send you an email with a link to their website when you have won a prize (or you can go on their website and put in your holder's no. if you can't stand the suspense and find out sooner) and your bank statement would show the prizes paid in. Why do you need pieces of paper?

Re: Premium Bonds

Posted: September 6th, 2017, 8:14 pm
by swill453
XFool wrote:I have now. It seems you have to select the "Paperless" option before you can get prizes paid to your bank account.

I don't believe that's the case, unless something's changed recently. I'm paperless now, but I wasn't always, but I've always had prizes paid direct into the bank.

Scott.

Re: Premium Bonds

Posted: September 13th, 2017, 4:51 pm
by brightncheerful
Regular readers (with long memories) of my ramblings on TLF (and TMF) will know that I refer cash to shares, regarding the Stock Market as just a bit of fun and excitement for a day or two , but not to be taken seriously. Long-term, I reckon cash on deposit is best (and capital more secure). Although since Base Rate tumbled and the banks and building societies followed suit the return has been derisory. I work in the property industry (arguably the biggest and most profitable industry in the world) so perhaps I should know better than to not invest in it, mainly because the sort of property I think is worth buying is out of my league and via prop-cos the dividends (compared to net revenue (after tax but before propco expenses) are insulting. But not I hasten to add if you're a shareholder and comparing the returns with what might be available elsewhere. Perhaps if pro-cos didn't revalue their assets so frequently, the reported NAV wouldn't already be in the share price, in which case stock picking could yield some surprises, but it's all become institutional nd what with yield compression and rental/capital growth hard to come by. I think it's only only because prop cos are good at creative accounting that appearances can be kept up. (FAO: moderator, I have digressed, I know, but background thinking is important, surely? )

Anyhow, when our 4 years fixed rate ISAs expired this year and the new rate some 2% lower, i decided to have another go at Premium Bonds. The first time our life savings went into the pot was between 2004 and 2014 when for the whole of that period the total ROCE was just over 22%;just under 2% pa. During the same period, RP1 was just under 41% up which meant that keeping pace with inflation required re-prioritising our spending: wish I known to do that beforehand instead of discovering after the event!

This time, NS&I website is more advanced technologically and user-friendly which means that focussing on possibilities isn't as detached. I think it important to ensure no breaks in the lines of continuity/communication. Register on-line and instruct NS&I to either buy more bonds with your winnings or pay direct into your Bank account. Leaving everything to chance in the hope that your numbers would be able to work out for themselves what to do when they enter the human world is risky: better to give them an easy route in.

Currently, the odds: 30,000 to 1 - Annual prize fund interest rate 1.15%. Expressed as winnings, the amounts and number of prizes are £1M (2); £100,000 (3); £50,000 (5); £25,000 (10); £10,000 (28); £5000 (54); £1000 (1,339); £500 (4,017); £100 (21,753); £50 (21,753); £25 (2,280,757). all subject to NS&I tinkering, computations beyond me!

We first qualified for the September 2017 draw. Mrs Bnc hasn't got round to registering on line so she won nothing to look forward to. Yours truly has started well at approximately 2% return. A friend suggests that might be it, but I am accustomed to other people's cryptic comments!

The NS&I app includes a countdown to the next draw: 20 days to go.

Re: Premium Bonds

Posted: September 13th, 2017, 5:23 pm
by Bouleversee
No wonder you are Bright and Cheerful.

I got twice as much as usual this month, ie. 2 x £25 instead of the usual one. A lousy return on £50k. I must move to Surrey where so many of the big prizes gravitate to.

Re: Premium Bonds

Posted: September 13th, 2017, 5:30 pm
by swill453
Bouleversee wrote: I must move to Surrey where so many of the big prizes gravitate to.

I take it that was tongue in cheek, and you weren't casting aspersions on ERNIE's randomness?

(If more prizes are won in Surrey, it's because more bonds are owned in Surrey.)

Scott.

Re: Premium Bonds

Posted: September 13th, 2017, 5:44 pm
by Bouleversee
Yes, it was tongue in cheek, or perhaps poking out of my mouth a little. I live in Bucks. and I should have thought it was pretty affluent too but hardly ever figures in the list of big prizes. I feel sure I am going to win £1m one of these days, just in time to pop my clogs, probably because of the shock!

Re: Premium Bonds

Posted: September 13th, 2017, 6:07 pm
by Aprilfool62
my partner has owned £40k of premium bonds (I hadnt realised the limit had increased to 50k) for about 2 and a half years and has won something all but 3 months. Not much, but its exciting for about 5 minutes when you get the email. I may purchase an amount with the cash from the sale of all my house builder shares. Bouleversee - we also live in Bucks so hopefully its our turn soon.