Chaos as 'pensioner bond' website crashes

[dutchman]

It was a big, showy announcement. The Government would use NS&I – the people behind Premium Bonds – to launch a new saving deal.



Paying 2.8% for a one-year savings bond or 4% for a three-year one, they would be offering almost twice as much interest as the average rates, and be available to over 65s only.

And today they launched.

And promptly crashed. Demand from silver surfers desperate to get their hands on the limited-number of savings bonds took down the National Savings and Investments website as thousands scrambled to get their hands on the deal.

“It’s all very well the NS&I telling people not to ‘rush’ to get the new Government bonds, but with superior rates to anything else that you will find on cash deposits on the high street, you don’t have time to sit around and twiddle your thumbs,” said Calum Bennie, savings expert at Scottish Friendly.

“By 09:00 this morning [Thursday morning] the website selling the bonds had already reported problems under the weight of demand.”

The site now seems to be working properly again, letting people aged over 65 years old sign up. The new bonds let you can save up to £10,000 each in a one-year bond paying annual interest of 2.8% and a three-year bond paying a yearly rate of 4%.

Couples can jointly hold £40,000, assuming that each partner holds £10,000 in a one-year bond and £10,000 in a three-year bond.

The bonds are available directly from NS&I, by post, phone or online (the website is up and running again now). The minimum investment that can be made in one is £500.

“This bond is going to be gone in days if not sooner. If you want the chance to get hold of one, then waste no time in applying,” said Sylvia Waycot, editor at Moneyfacts.co.uk.

“Disregard any notion of postal applications and don’t get stuck in a long phone queue as it really is a case of quickest gets the deal. My advice is to apply online.”