New data from National Savings and Investments (NS&I) shared that more than £100 million of Premium Bond prizes remain unclaimed across the country, which is 2.5 million prizes.
In Sussex, this number stands at more than £2.8 million.
Here is all to know and how to check if you have won and claim your prize.
What is a Premium Bond?
Unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes in Sussex are over £2.8m
As of the end of March, there are nearly 700,000 Premium Bonds accounts in Sussex, 326,319 in East Sussex and 372,396 in West Sussex.
In East Sussex, the combined value of the Premium Bonds accounts is £2.49 billion, with West Sussex’s total sitting at £3.12 billion.
However, across the two counties, more than 400,000 accounts had no activity for more than 20 years, with 374,315 of these in West Sussex.
The value of these accounts across Sussex stands at more than £23 million in total.
There are 39,031 unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes in East Sussex, totalling £1.47 million.
The highest unclaimed prize in the county is £25,000, with the Bond number 62WP308409, which was drawn in August 2023.
More than £2.8m of Premium Bonds prizes have been left unclaimed in Sussex (Image: Martin Rickett/PA) In West Sussex, there are 37,822 unclaimed prizes, which total £1.38 million.
The highest unclaimed prize is £10,000 drawn in September 2023, which has the bond number 009JW912535.
How to claim an unclaimed Premium Bond
Each month in the UK, premium bonds are entered into a draw that could see holders win £1 million, or smaller prizes of descending value down to £25.
Since the first draw in June 1957, its Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment (ERNIE), has drawn 772 million prizes worth a combined £37 billion.
Since 2011, people have been able to choose to have prize money paid directly into their bank accounts.
Before that, the bank would contact prize winners and send out cheques in the post.
Premium Bonds prize winners should receive notifications of their winnings via text message, email or post if they have registered their details.
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Some customers, however, relocate and forget to update their details.
Other bond holdings are not registered. For example, people may be unaware that they were gifted bonds as children, or they were never given the paper certificate carrying the account numbers.
Details about how to track down lost investments can be found on the NS&I website here.
Andrew Westhead, Retail Director at NS&I, said: “NS&I has successfully paid out over 99% of all Premium Bonds prizes to our winners since 1957.
“The £103m of prizes currently unclaimed represents just 0.28% of the total £37bn awarded by ERNIE over nearly seven decades.
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“We want to reunite Premium Bonds holders with their winnings and original investment and provide information online and through our call centre on how to do this.
“We also regularly publicise details of unclaimed prizes and encourage customers to use our prize checker, register their Premium Bonds, and use our tracing service to track down mislaid Bonds.
“Opting to have Premium Bond prizes paid directly to a bank account or reinvested into more Premium Bonds reduces the chances of prizes going unclaimed, it is also quicker and easier than waiting for a cheque. Nine in 10 prizes are already paid this way.”