Premium Bonds offer savers a way to put money aside with the chance of winning tax-free prizes, and individuals can hold up to £50,000, with the security of being backed by the Treasury
More than £408million worth of prizes announced in latest Premium Bonds draw(Image: Getty)
Two lucky Premium Bond holders in Liverpool and Bedfordshire have each scooped a £1million jackpot, it has been confirmed.
Taxpayer-backed National Savings & Investments revealed that the first Premium Bonds £1million winning Bond number this month is 489TB013219 and is held by someone from Central Bedfordshire. They purchased the Bond in question in February 2022 and hold the maximum £50,000 per person allowed under NS&I’s limit.
The second £1 million jackpot Bond number is 040QJ919368 held by someone in Liverpool. They also have the maximum £50,000 holding and purchased their winning Bond in October 2004.
The lucky pair are among more than 6.1 million Premium Bond prizes, worth a total of £408million, drawn by ERNIE this month.
ERNIE, the Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment, uses the latest technology to produce random numbers in a monthly prize draw. This month’s draw takes the total amount won by Premium Bonds holders to £40billion, since the first one in 1957. Since then, there have been 815 million prizes.
While there were two £1million winners, most prizes are for far less. Nevertheless, 78 Bond holders scooped £100,000 each, and 154 got £50,000 each. At the other end of the scale, there were 2,643,007 prizes worth £25 a go.
Andrew Westhead, NS&I retail director, said: “Congratulations to our two jackpot winners from Central Bedfordshire. and Liverpool, who each start February £1million richer. ERNIE has spread the love ahead of Valentine’s Day and we hope this brings both winners and their loved ones plenty to celebrate.
“It’s not just about the jackpot winners though; this month we’ve paid out over 6.1 million prizes worth more than £408million, bringing the total won by Premium Bonds holders since the first draw in 1957 to £40billion.”
Premium Bonds offer savers a way to put money aside with the chance of winning tax-free prizes. Individuals can hold up to £50,000 in Premium Bonds, with the security of being backed by the Treasury. Newly purchased Premium Bonds need to be held for one full calendar month after being bought before being eligible for the prize draw.
The jackpot prize was increased to £1million from the April 1994 draw, and there are now two £1million prizes each month.
Bond holders can check if they have won prizes the day after the first working day of each month by using the Premium Bonds prize checker app, or visiting the NS&I website. For this month it will be Tuesday February 3.
Premium Bonds prize winners will receive notifications of their winnings each month via email or text if they have registered their contact details.
But NS&I warned that, where customers move or change contact or bank details and forget to update NS&I with the new details, they could miss out. As a result, there are currently more than 2.7 million unclaimed prizes worth a staggering near £114.8million waiting to be claimed.