Retirement

Pensioner Bond Web Site Crashes In First Hour Live

A flood of online applications on the first day high interest pensions bonds have gone on sale has crashed the National Savings & Investment web site.

Within an hour of the bonds going on sale, the web site slowed to a crawl and the NS&I press office issued a statement asking customers to be patient

More than £10 billion of bonds are on offer to savers over 65 years old.

A three-year fixed rate bond pays 4%, while a 12-month bond pays 2.8%.

More than half of bank and building society savings accounts and cash ISAs pay less than 1% returns.

No rush to buy

The bonds are on sale at the NS&I web site – but many visitors are failing to reach the site or hit an error message asking them to come back later when they do.

Jane Platt, chief executive of NS&I, said: “The bonds are expected to be on sale for months rather than weeks and we would like to put the minds of savers at rest. There’s no need to rush to buy bonds.

“Although the web site has had some teething problems due to demand, it’s best to apply online. This is the quickest and easiest way to invest and savers will receive an immediate confirmation that an application has been received.”

Chancellor George Osborne pledged to make £10 billion of bonds available to the over 65s at ‘market leading rates’ and appears to have kept his promise.

Savers can invest between £500 and £10,000 in each bond, with a maximum of £20,000 a saver or £40,000 a couple.

Financial certainty

The NS&1 web site boiling over on launch day was not really a surprise when more than 50,000 people had registered to receive email updates about the bonds.

Pension advisers suggest anyone who can afford to squirrel away up to £20,000 for three years should consider investing in the bonds as the rates are much higher than other financial institutions pay and the investment is government-backed, secure and guaranteed.

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said: “Our economic roadmap includes helping people make the best of their money at all stages of their life.

“I am delighted the government has delivered on this promise to savers in their retirement who were struggling to find a decent return on their money from the banks and building societies.

“These bonds fill that gap and will provide financial certainty for many savers.”

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