Overview
- Pensions minister Torsten Bell told MPs on Thursday that a review points to a maximum of around 37,500 customers and up to £476 million in deposits not reaching beneficiaries of deceased savers.
- Officials say the problem was a tracing failure that missed accounts spread across multiple customer profiles and legacy systems, with EY and legal advisers enlisted and more than 34 million records reviewed.
- NS&I will contact affected estates directly, return funds with interest, and publish a detailed remediation and compensation plan in May, with ministers urging families not to hire claims firms.
- The Treasury is working with NS&I on repayments reported at around £400 million, and because the bank is government-backed, taxpayers may ultimately cover the cost.
- Dax Harkins has stepped down and former HMRC boss Sir Jim Harra is taking over on an interim basis, following years of rising complaints and a £3 billion IT overhaul that the Public Accounts Committee called a “full‑spectrum disaster.”