PREMIUM BONDS AUGUST/SEPT 2024

[Blondeshavemorefun]

New thread and I've been asked to give some basic info. Feel free to add stuff

PB have been about since 1957

Been 30yrs (April 2024) since a million was then the highest prize

nsandi-corporate.com/news-research/news/30-years-premium-bonds-ps1-million-jackpots#

Each bond is £1. You have to buy in minimum of £25 so means 25 chances to win.

Bonds have to be in for a clear month before going into the draw

If you want to cash bonds in then usually takes 3 days to go into your account

Winnings can be reinvested if holdings are under £50k

This means they will go into the next months draw without losing a month

Or sent to named bank account if over /want winnings in bank account

More info here

www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/savings/types-of-savings/premium-bonds

The best time to buy premium bonds is on the last day of the month, as this means they are only held by NSI for one month and one day, without being entered into the prize draw.

PB to me is the fun and thrill each month of what if I win big and a millionaire - to then hoping win thousands to a day or two later being grateful if win £25😂

I have nowhere near the maximum and probably never will unless I win £50k + on pb

But only takes one £1 to win that million !!!

I love seeing the low holdings win high amounts

We've seen over the years £100 win £100k and £50 win £25k and £1 win £25k

Maximum is £50k per person so some do have all for family- mum dad and 2 kids so £200k etx

Those on the thread are varying from few hundred /thousand - to 20/30k to full holdings of £50k

Everyone is welcome to join in whether small or full holdings

One would expect if had full holdings of £50k to win something every month and think over the year to earn the same as if in a high interest account to win around £1925 in prizes

If have £5k average luck is £175 winnings a year

Obviously some people have better 'luck' than others and some worse - Ie full holdings and not winning anything a month or two

PB odds calculator below

moneymarvel.co.uk/calculators/premium-bonds/

Or this one is quite good as shows the interest rate of the winnings - obv anything over 5% is good as if in an account you wouid be taxed so be more like 3.75%)

www.candidmoney.com/calculators/national-savings-premium-bond-calculator

From google (august 2023) - The consistent winners are the 1.16 million people who have the maximum £50,000.

They hold almost half of all premium bonds and, at current odds of 21,000:1, can expect a monthly stream of tax-free prizes: two a month and three almost every other month, 28 or 29 a year totaling £1,925

From google (Jan 2024) Tho equally With Premium Bonds, for every person who wins £1 million, a lot of people have to win nothing. So the median average will always be lower than the mean average.

This means that, with average luck, most people will win less than the prize rate each year, regardless of how many bonds they hold

But many on here do have £50k and then consider moving it to an account that pays 5/6% if their bonds aren't doing very well as would then def get extra money

But remember savings /interest get taxed

PB and their winnings don't

So they do dither whether to pull out from pb and put in high interest account if not winning anything

If you have PB but not sure if you have ever won esp if moved about a lot

you can write to NS&I. Include these details in the letter:

	Current name

	Current address

	Premium Bond holder number 

	All previous addresses where you might have registered bonds

	Your signature 

You can send your letter to:

NS&I,
Sunderland
SR43 2SB.

There are 2 apps afaik

Cream - prize checker and if won previous month will show a pic - which we all get excited over 😂😂😂

Blue - the app its self works but the showing early often doesn't work for me but those who reinvest their winnings say it shows if won the day before app shows 🙀🙀🙀

Seems the higher the winnings the earlier it shows and can be from 6pm the night before the app shows

And to confuse things I have a White app that is a bookmark - which shows info/list 😄😄😄

Now this has been debated on MANY times but seems to be correct

When do we find out if going to get a visit from AM 😂

The two winners of 
the £1million prizes will be contacted by Agent Million (AM) 😂😂 the day before the first working day of the corresponding month.

There may however be 
exceptions to this, such as when the first working day of the month is a 
bank holiday, for example.

So

Day before first working day - Millionaire knock /call

First day of working month - list showing all winners million to £1k winners - which I always put up for those who can't find it

Day after first working day , including weekends - cream app showing all winnings

You can also check to see if have won via this link with your holders number

www.nsandi.com/prize-checker

Hopefully I've covered everything

Good luck one and all 😄

I agree that, while our luck depends on ERNIE the random number generator, these are probably the counties where most premium bonds are held.

But, is it the chance adjusted based on the number of holders? And is that adjusted for population?

For example, Rutland might have a low % chance of winning, but that could well be because it has a very small population. Or, Humber, because it has a small number of bonds held due to local demographics (i.e. spread of wealth).

If the results are completely flattened like that, then yes, some places seem "luckier" than others. But given the wide disparity I'm not sure it has all been equalized.

But NS&I say the prize rate is 4.40% yet none of the counties winning percentages are that high?

I haven't seen the source data, but I read the numbers quoted as saying that in 2023 people living in Essex won 3.84% of the total prizes available, people living in Kent won 3.49% of the total prizes etc

If that is what the figures represent then it doesn't really tell us much expect for giving an indication of where the holders of PBs are concentrated.

Exactly.

Good point!

But all that data is telling us is what percentage of total prizes available were won by each region.

It is not telling us what percentage of bonds in those regions won prizes i.e. it is not telling us the prize rate in each area.

£75 on FH. Not so happy this month

That's because the prizes are not £1.

If they only awarded £1 wins then the percentage would match the prize rate, but the large prizes required a large number of people to lose, so that one person can win big.

The prizes win percentage can't equal the payout percentage.

£600 on FH...biggest win yet

I agree. I think there is another explanation on top of this which is that different localities vary hugely in terms of size. There are nearly 2 million people living in Essex compared with about 300,000 in Tower Hamlets. Kent has about 1.6 million.

It's very frustrating though! There are lots of high value winners from my large London Borough. They all seem to have full holdings but there was only one time when I saw a resident like me with far fewer bonds appear on the big winners list.

I've just woken up and checked the app.....very excited as I've won £825 on FH and DH has won £1050 on FH.

I bought the bonds in may this year after my late mum's estate was finalised and with my inheritance. I wish I could tell my mum.... she would be so so excited too having held PBS through thick and thin.

I think a little mini break abroad will be on the cards for us.

@nettie434 I agree when I go down the list im see so many £50k or £40k in Kent

@omega4ever well done. Great win

That’s lovely @omega4ever and having a little break together will be a great way of celebrating mum.

How lovely @omega4ever; I can very much understand your excitement and wanting to tell your Mum. My Mum passed away in October 2023, and she won her biggest ever (£624) in November 2023. I could just imagine Mum dancing down the hallway with excitement.

Ahh how lovely!! My Dad was the same and insisted we kept his in for the year after he died so checking his bonds every month kind kept him with us!

And bizarrely my friend had the best 6 months in years after he passed away and she thought he was picking out her numbers!

Enjoy the prize!!

Aww I love this so much.

My mum died last year. Before she died we would always message each other on the first day of the month with how our PBs had done, but I eventually spent them on an extension etc so didn't have any for a while. I've now been able to fill mine out again with inheritance from her and DH's will be full from next month too. I desperately wanted to message her to tell her my winnings for this first draw with the money she left for me.

A mini break sounds lovely and well deserved!

Nothing again on 35k, my second month

The pb I bought for my friends child have gone through

Whoop

So good to know as long as they have an account anyone can't buy via their bank

I just put in ns&i sort code and account number plus the child's number and voila 😄😄

Thanks for confirming.

My husband died last month and this month his bonds have won £825 and my first thought was - I have to go and tell him - then remembered he wasn't upstairs. He would also have been over the moon and I am spending it on a holiday, eventually.

Sorry for your loss. But how lovely they won

Ah, how bittersweet for you. Congratulations on your win and condolences on your incredibly sad loss x

@FishPie2 so sorry for your loss.
A little bit of me wants to believe your Dh is smiling down on his winning bonds and helping you decide where to spend it.

I am so sorry for your loss and also sending congratulations on your win. Enjoy your holiday.