Written question asked by Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat) on Friday, 10 July 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 14 July 2026. It was answered by Torsten Bell (Labour) on Friday, 17 July 2026 on behalf of the Treasury.

Administration of Estates

Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans does she have to decrease the time taken to return savings to estates of the deceased.

Answer: On 19 May, I updated Parliament that from the week commencing 25 May, NS&I would start to contact affected estates, with holdings of £10 or more, to reunite them with the holdings owed to them. Remediation will be delivered in phases. NS&I has since issued letters and repayments to the first cohort of affected estates. NS&I aims to return holdings to affected estates as swiftly as possible and expects to complete its remediation programme in the first half of 2027.

Secondary information