National Savings (Remediation Scheme) Regulations 2026

Baroness Kramer Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Kramer (LD)]

My Lords, as the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, has clearly explained, the estates of deceased customers of NS&I were not always repaid money from all their accounts following a bereavement claim. The operational failure was identified in December 2025 but reported to Ministers and publicised only in March 2026. The issues were resolved for current and new bereavement claims from January 2026, but I understand that the revised process is proving hard going and, in and of itself, is causing more delays. Can the Minister update us?

As the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, said, some 34,000 estates, with a total value of £476 million, were affected by the original failure. Can the Minister tell us how many of the families of the bereaved have so far been reunited with their funds in full and have been compensated for the delay? What are the costs of compensation and associated fees that will fall on the taxpayer?

I understand the pressures to resolve this issue, but frankly, when the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments reports an SI as “requiring elucidation” on quite a number of points and for “defective drafting”, we really are talking about sloppiness, and that is not acceptable. NS&I is one of our most trusted financial institutions, holding over £240 billion belonging to some 24 million customers. It is crucial that it retains trust, which means that the response by NS&I and the Government needs to be both accurate and swift.