Has anyone tried to buy premium bonds for grandchildren?

I would be interested in this too.

I set up accounts in my name and my GCs names with NatWest, when they were first born, not exactly sure how they will access them later, but until then I can pay money into the accounts and if they are sent cheques they can pay the money in with their paying in books.
I might have specified an age that they can access the money when I set the account up, not sure, but I’m not able to get to the money, just pay more in.

Then why not opening a savings account under your name?

You can always make the deposits you want and still give the money to the gc when ready

When our granddaughter was born, we opened a savings account for her and put regular amounts in. It was opened in my name as trustee of our granddaughter. So it was 'Mrs K Bloggs as trustee of Miss P Bloggs. She was not allowed access to it until she was 18. Her parents had no access to it at all. It helped her get through university.

I tried to open a savings account in my DGD's name and was told I needed her birth certificate and parents' permission.
Instead, we just put money by in a savings account in our name.

GrannyRose15, I bought Premium Bonds for all 3 of my grandchildren. I top them up-online birthdays, christmas etc without much problem, you even get the option of a postal/e-gift receipt although the parent does get notification regarding the gift and the option to 'vet' it
I also opted to have any winnings they may receive to be automatically re-invested
Hope this helps

I considered getting Premium Bonds for my children when they were young, with a view to paying in birthday money and so on.

I didn't in the end, as small though the chance may be, there is a possibility of one of them winning, and I din't like the idea of having one millionaire child and one pauper?. In the end, I opened a TESSA, or something like that which was available at the time. I made sure that equal amounts went in for both children, and split the money when the first went to University, leaving the balance for the other to get when her turn came.

Yes GrannyRose15 and it was a right pain in the wotsit, I had both birth certificates scanned in, the shortened one was rejected. So I had the forms sent to my daughter, as the parent, they got to her too late for her to return them in the timeframe (Covid post slow). The monies I was paying ping ponged in and out of my account. When I rang to inquire about status they wouldn’t speak to me as I’m not the parent, my daughter works f/t, easier for me to call. I’d just thought with interest rates so low they might win a prize with 2k each in bonds. I’ve given up now, I understand they’re cautious because of money laundering. I’m awaiting DD opening a savings account for the youngest and I’ll pay into both their accounts instead.

We buy and top up the Grandchildrens Premium Bonds online and without any difficulty.

I have a slight concern over PB. I wouldn't want just one DGC to win a large amount of money and the others to get just the odd £25. Can winnings be split between brothers and sisters?

At least with PB’s you have a chance of making something out of them. We have just closed a junior savings account that we had been paying into for GS for some years because as soon as it went over £5,000 the interest rate dropped from 2% (when it was opened it was 5%!) to 0.01%. The money will go into something hopefully more productive that we can continue to invest in.

Mamardoit

I have a slight concern over PB. I wouldn't want just one DGC to win a large amount of money and the others to get just the odd £25. Can winnings be split between brothers and sisters?

No, which is what i was getting at in my post three up from yours ?.

The point of PB is that they are in the name of the child for tax purposes (hence the issues with adults opening them), so the money, and any winnings belongs to the named child. As I said, the thought of having one millionaire and one pauper under the same roof was enough to put me off getting them for children.

I have premium bonds in my name for GC, I have six and I'd hate one to win a million and the others get nothing. I realise it isn't likely that they will win big but if it did happen I'd be able to share it out.

Doodledog

I considered getting Premium Bonds for my children when they were young, with a view to paying in birthday money and so on.

I didn't in the end, as small though the chance may be, there is a possibility of one of them winning, and I din't like the idea of having one millionaire child and one pauper?. In the end, I opened a TESSA, or something like that which was available at the time. I made sure that equal amounts went in for both children, and split the money when the first went to University, leaving the balance for the other to get when her turn came.

Sorry I missed your reply and I've said pretty much the same thing about one millionaire and the others left out.

I opened Halifax accounts for each of my 4 grandchildren when they were born. I needed their birth certificates to do it. My name and theirs is on the accounts. My brother usually sends them a cheque for birthday and Christmas and they are all added to the accounts along with whatever I can contribute.

The accounts are still in my possession but I’ve given their parents the details. I was told the children could operate the accounts when they are able to sign their name. But I don’t intend to hand them over till they are finished school. If I pop my clogs before then it’s up to their parents.

My DS opened accounts for our DGC and we pay regular amounts every month. It is more tax efficient than giving a lump sum later.

I too have considered PBs for my 2 dgc but have not bought any for the reason mentioned above by a couple of previous posters. You only have to go on mumsnet to see the problems caused by sibling rivalry and jealousy and it seems that some on Gransnet have also experienced this problem.

I would not want to be the person who, through trying to provide for dgcs' futures unwittingly made a massive financial gap between them. Of course, once they are in the world of work and adult partnerships financial inequality occurs but Grandparents, like parents, usually feel that as far as it lies with them they will at least give an equal financial start to all of them.

I only have 2 and if any winnings could be divided equally between them I would go ahead. The only way to do this I suppose is to put them in our own names and open individual accounts for the dgc where any winnings are placed separately to the pb accounts.

I've got children's accounts with Halifax. Parents are informed on opening but it just comes off a s direct debit from my account into theirs. Had to send photo of birth certificate and they are fussy about that. Rejected DGD's as didn't show corners.

Our daughter set up our GD's account and we pay it monthly.

I attempted to buy premium bonds 18 months ago for three of my grandchildren,absolute nightmare,gave it up in the end ??‍♀️

I recently read an article which mentioned the possibility of a child winning a large sum on PBS. Apparently the top prize of £1million has been won by 14 (or thereabouts) children and that is why I won’t buy them for grandchildren.

I paid for Premium Bonds for my Grandson and it was then up to my son to send in the documents. He didn't do it in time and so the money was paid back into the account I made the payment from. As I had used my husband's account, I didn't notice this and neither did he so the money was inadvertently spent. It was a disaster I won't repeat.

I save for my two with Halifax. The money goes into a higher interest account for a year after which is transferred into another savings account, which unfortunately has a lower rate. It looks after itself and all happens automatically, with direct debits going from my account. You can top up the lower rate account with ad hoc payments. I did have to take their birth certificates with me, but it was all relatively easy to set up.

We buy premium bonds for our 3 grandchildren every birthday . You can now do it on line . Once you done the first application with the name of a responsible parent and their signature ( I think that has to be sent by post ) you just fill the same details in each time ( the parent does not need to sign each time ) . You will get a copy of for each investment so will have the bond numbers .We've asked for any winnings to be re invested as little as £25 can be reinvested. It does seem daft that as grandparents we can't save for our grandkids .