NS&I's £5,000 probate threshold, the 12-month prize draw rule, how to make a claim, and what documents you need.
This guide is part of ProbateHelp's Estate Assets guide cluster.
Use NS&I's bereavement route and explain that the holder number is missing. Supply the deceased's personal details, previous names and addresses, and any records you have so NS&I can investigate. Its published claim checklist does not list a holder number as a requirement.
No. Premium Bonds cannot be transferred to another person. They must be cashed in and the proceeds distributed as cash. The beneficiary can then purchase their own Premium Bonds if they wish (up to the £50,000 maximum holding per person).
Premium Bond prizes are free of UK Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax, including prizes won after death. NS&I pays them to the person entitled under its bereavement process, and the personal representatives should record any estate receipt in the estate accounts.
Yes. NS&I's prize checker — on its website or in its app — shows prizes from recent monthly draws if you have the holder number, and any unclaimed prizes should be checked for the date-of-death valuation under HMRC's timing rules. If a prize warrant was already sent to the deceased, return it to NS&I, which will reissue it to the person entitled once the claim is completed. Prizes won after the death are held by NS&I until the claim is complete, then sent by warrant after each monthly draw.
If the estate qualifies as an excepted estate, you may not need the full IHT400. Estate value is only one part of that decision: gifts, trusts, foreign assets and other full-details conditions can matter even where no tax is due. Include Premium Bonds in the date-of-death valuation and keep the evidence.