The state-owned savings bank behind the hugely popular premium bonds has been asked by MPs to explain why its customer service levels have plummeted over recent months. Mel Stride, who chairs the Treasury select committee, wrote to NS&I on Tuesday to set out a series of failings and ask how the bank intended to resolve matters. Citing NS&I’s figures that showed a 43% increase in complaints over the six months to the end of September, Stride described the significant “anxiety” the failures had caused, particularly to older customers who have been struggling to access their savings. In previous years National Savings & Investments as it was known, was a byword for good customer service. However, the decision to stop sending out cheques to people cashing in premium bonds, coupled with big cuts in payouts and the corresponding jump in withdrawals, has left NS&I call centres struggling to cope. In his letter to the bank’s chief executive, Ian Ackerley, Stride noted that the NS&I website included an apology to customers if they hd been “experiencing difficulties” getting in touch. “Whilst NS&I took steps to keep service levels up during the pandemic, they appear to have been unsuccessful. The decision to stop paying premium bond winners by cheque will be particularly concerning to vulnerable consumers,” wrote the Conservative MP. NS&I started making all payments direct into its customer’s bank accounts. Investors in premium bonds are not paid interest but instead are entered into a prize draw each month where they can win between £25 and £1m tax free. After cuts to payouts, savers now have a one-in-34,500 chance of winning, against one-in-24,500 previously. NS&I also reduced the number of £100,000 prizes from seven to four and £50,000 prizes from 14 to nine. The changes prompted significant withdrawals. In a statement NS&I said: “We are very sorry that some of our customers are having difficulty managing their savings with NS&I. We remain extremely busy answering a high volume of customer queries and assisting our customers with their savings. We have recruited almost 200 additional customer service staff in the UK and are expanding our call centre capacity across the UK to help improve the service we provide to our customers.” The committee has also demanded answers from NS&I as to why the bank needed an extra £40.5m advance, from the Treasury’s contingencies fund.