Britons are being urged to check whether they’re missing out on cash as more than 2.4 million Premium Bond prizes worth just over £80million are currently going unclaimed.
NS&I savers can win sums worth anything between £25 and £2million every month through randomly generated prize draws, so it’s worth people checking their numbers.
Lucky bondholders are typically notified when they win a Premium Bonds prize, however, some people may move or change their contact details without updating NS&I, which can lead to unclaimed prizes – especially those who opt to receive prizes via cheque.
Taking July’s million-pound winners’ locations as an example, there are currently 18.436 unclaimed prizes worth £563,575 from Bondholders in Staffordshire.
There are two of these in total and they were won in the February 2001 and August 2007 prize draws. The oldest unclaimed prize in Staffordshire dates back to 63 years ago, in July 1960, and is worth £25.
In Norfolk, where July’s second million-pound winner is based, there are 20,054 unclaimed prizes with a total value of £591,175. The largest unclaimed prize is £25,000 and is from the July 2021 prize draw. The oldest unclaimed prize is from July 1968 and is worth £25.
According to an NS&I spokesperson, the “best way” to ensure that prizes do not go unclaimed in the first place is for customers to have them paid directly into their bank account or automatically reinvested into more Premium Bonds.
They added: “Getting prizes paid directly is also quicker and more secure, with more than nine in ten prizes now paid this way.”
How to check if you’ve won a Premium Bonds prize
The quickest way to check for unclaimed prizes is to use NS&I’s online prize checker or the NS&I prize checker app. Customers simply need their Premium Bonds holder’s number or NS&I number.
To prevent prizes from going unclaimed, customers are urged ensure that they constantly update NS&I with any changes to their details, such as their email address, phone number, name or address.
How do Premium Bond prizes work?
To win prizes, savers must buy Premium Bonds and each investment must be at least £25, after which prizes are generated at random during a prize draw at the start of every month.
Prizes are tax-free and are split into three value bands – higher, medium, and lower – and each band receives a percentage share of the monthly prize fund.
Prizes in the higher band range from £5,000 to £1million (only two of these can be won), while the medium and lower bands afford people the chance to win between £1,000 and £500, and £100 and £25, respectively.
The prize fund rate has been increased for August from 3.7 percent to four percent, adding an extra £30million to the prize pot and more chances to win.
The odds have improved 22,000 to one, with the changes meaning that customers simply have more opportunities each month to win high-value prizes.
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