NS&I’s Premium Bonds are a popular savings option where rather than earning interest each months, savers are in with a chance of scooping a prize in the monthly tax-free prize draws. Lucky bondholders could win as much as as £1million land in their account if chosen and although winners are generated at random, there is a way to further the chance of securing a prize.
The prize draw takes place at the start of every month and September’s draw this morning will see a total of 4,862,556 prizes worth £138,988,000 paid out.
Prizes 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 can range from £1million (only two of these can be won) to £5,000, while the medium and lower bands award people the chance to win between £1,000 and £500, and £100 and £25, respectively.
The lucky Bond winners of September’s £1million have been announced today, hailing from Sefton and West Sussex.
READ MORE: NS&I premium bond prize draw – how to check if you’ve won
The first winning Bond number drawn was 409PT785413 to the winner from Sefton, who holds £50,000 in Premium Bonds and purchased the winning Bond in August 2020.
The second winning Bond number drawn was 324MB318235 to the winner from West Sussex. The winner also holds £50,000 in Premium Bonds and purchased their winning Bond in February 2018.
On the news, Jill Waters, NS&I retail director, said: “There were more than 119 billion Bonds eligible for this month’s prize draw, with Premium Bonds getting more popular amongst the nation’s savers with each passing month.
“Each Bond eligible in this month’s draw had a chance to win not just the £1 million jackpot, but also one of the other more than 4.8 million prizes worth between £25 and £100,000.”
How to boost chances of winning in the NS&I prize draw
Although winners are chosen at random, the more Bonds people have, the higher their chances are of winning.
NS&I said today: “By topping up regularly each month, customers are giving themselves further chances to win in the monthly Premium Bonds prize draws.”
According to NS&I, each £1 Bond number has an equal chance of winning, regardless of when or where it was bought.
However, it notes that over 95 percent of eligible Bonds have been bought since 2000, so while Premium Bonds have been on sale for over 60 years, the larger ratio explains why the newer Bonds seem to win more frequently.
But, it says: “When ERNIE randomly generates winners, it doesn’t store any numbers, so there’s no way any Bonds can be left out.
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According to NS&I, the largest unclaimed prize is £1,000 and is from the September 1994 prize draw. The oldest unclaimed prize in Sefton is from March 1965, valued at £25.
West Sussex has 39,527 unclaimed prizes with a total value of £1,278,900. The largest unclaimed prize is £5,000 and is from the March 2007 prize draw. The oldest unclaimed prize is from April 1962 and is worth £25.
The best way to ensure prizes are claimed is for savers to opt to have them paid directly into their bank account or automatically reinvested into more Premium Bonds. Savers can find out how to do this on the NS&I website.
People can find out if they have an unclaimed Premium Bonds prize by using NS&I’s online prize checker or the prize checker app.
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