THERE have been just 12 winners of the £1million Premium Bonds jackpot from Cumbria, figures show.
In September last year, a Cumbrian saver struck gold with the £1million win.
The lucky winner, holding the maximum of £50,000 in bonds, had bought the winning bond in April 2015, records show.
This person became Cumbria’s 12th Premium Bonds millionaire.
Just months earlier, in December 2024, another bondholder in Cumbria landed the cool £1million. Purchasing the winning bond in April 2023, this individual held £33,275 worth of Premium Bonds in total.
April 2021 saw a woman from Cumbria win the million-pound prize, with a bond that was part of a £50,000 holding purchased in February 2018.
Going back to August 2020, another woman from Cumbria hit the jackpot. She held an investment of £5,900 and bought the winning bond in November 2010.
What are Premium Bonds?
Premium Bonds are a UK government-backed savings product where each £1 saved is a bond entered into a monthly prize draw instead of earning interest. Prizes are tax-free, but there is no guaranteed return and holders may win nothing.
The scheme is delivered by National Savings & Investments (NS&I).
The top prize is £1million, but there is a plethora of smaller prizes.
Winning Premium Bonds are selected each month by a random-number machine called ERNIE (Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment). ERNIE generates random numbers, which are matched to eligible bond numbers; the first matching numbers win the top prizes, and each bond can only win once per draw.
Recent winners
Beyond these top-tier winners – who get the news of their win delivered to them by the famous Agent Million – a resident from the Cumberland Council area managed to pocket a fantastic £100,000 in February’s premium bond draw.
In the area of Cumbria covered by Cumberland Council, a total of 71 people bagged premium bond prizes in the most recent draw.
While two cashed in on £50,000 apiece, another bagged £10,000.
Seven other people each took home £5,000.
The largest group of winners, 60 to be precise, each pocketed a neat £1,000.
The Westmorland and Furness Council area also saw 100 prizes being won.
The highest win in the region was a handsome £25,000.