Premium Bonds are a type of savings product run by National Savings & Investment (NS&I) but instead of earning interest, you’re entered into a monthly prize draw
There are more than 2.4million Premium Bond prizes that currently remain unclaimed – so how do you check if you’re a winner?
Premium Bonds are a type of savings product run by National Savings & Investment (NS&I) but instead of earning interest, you’re entered into a monthly prize draw where you could win between £25 to £1million. You can see the August 2024 results here. Of course, whether you scoop a prize is all down to luck – and some months, you may not win anything at all.
But some people have been lucky and may not realise it, with the latest data from NS&I showing more than 2.4million Premium Bonds prizes amounting to £86million currently remain unclaimed. This includes six £100,000 prizes and ten £50,000 prizes that no one has come forward to get. We explain how to check if you’re a winner.
READ MORE: Winter Fuel Payments: Everything you need to know as millions to miss out on £300READ MORE: Full list of banks that have cut mortgages after Bank of England interest rates update
Premium Bonds prize checker explained
There are several ways to check if you’re a Premium Bonds winner. NS&I has an online prize checker tool, where you just need to enter your holder’s number, which is made up of nine or ten digits, or eight digits followed by a letter. You can find this by logging into NS&I.
You can also check if you’re a winner by logging into the Premium Bonds prize checker app. You should be emailed or sent a text message from NS&I if you’ve won. If you’re a winner, you can have the money paid into their bank account, or reinvest it into new Premium Bonds.
The odds of a bond winning each month are 21,000 to 1 for every £1 bond – but most prizes are for smaller amounts. A total of 5,935,875 prizes worth £457,062,375 were paid out in the August 2024 prize draw. In comparison, there were 124,653,374,131 Bond numbers eligible for the draw.
Each month, there are just two £1million prizes handed out, versus millions of smaller prizes. The August draw saw 1,476,219 people win £25 each, while 2,191,646 people won £50. Just 87 people won £100,000 and 176 people won £50,000 each.
READ MORE: Boots shoppers who spend £40 can get £110 worth of freebies from Elemis, Sol de Janeiro and more