PREMIUM BONDS MARCH ONWARDS

[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 every purchase - years ago you could buy £1 at a time.

Odds of winning £1 million on Premium Bonds at face value are 1 in 2,489,469,818 if you have £25 in PBs.

However most people have more than £25 so the odds depend on how much you do hold.

If you have £100 the odds in any given month are 1 in 49,563,028

£1,000 in PB the odds are 1 in 4,954,991

£50,000 in PB the odds are 1 in 96,839

To win anything odds are 1 in 22000

So providing you have more than £100 you have better odds than winning the lottery 😄

And obviously far better than the lottery - you don’t lose your stake !!!!!!

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 winnings take over FH /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 even £1 won £10k

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 /few 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 or even longer

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 4% is good as if in an account you wouid be taxed so be more like 3%)

In August 2023, NS&I hiked the prize fund to a 24-year high of 4.65 per cent from 4 per cent, a level not seen since 1999 🙀🙀🙀🙀

But it has been steadily falling since, and of January 2025, the prize fund rate - the amount of the total fund paid out in prizes - is 4 per cent (www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-14127405/Premium-Bonds-prize-fund-rate-cut-NS-deals-blow-savers.html)

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 1/22000 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

To work out your own personal % rate

Take your total prizes, divide it by the number of months and x by 12.

Then divide that figure into your total holding and x 100.

So say £500 prizes in 6 months / 6 x 12 = £1000.

Holdings £30,000 = 1000/30000 x 100 = 3.33% interest rate.

But many on here do have £50k and then consider moving it to an account that pays 4% 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 anything over 3% in winnings is considered good.

So they do dither whether to pull out from pb and put in high interest account if not winning anything so that they will def earn x amount of interest

But then lose the what if won a million or £100k

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 😄

In her OP, @Blondeshavemorefun kindly gives the information needed and the address to write to NS&I to find old PBs.

Here is the tracing form and information from the NS&I website if you want to do it online instead:

Tracing service: How to find your lost savings

Downloads and forms | Forms for your accounts | NS&I - the form is near the bottom under 'other forms' and called 'form to track down lost savings'.

Alternatively this website can help you trace lost PBs, bank and building society accounts FOR FREE and is recommended on the NS&I website:
About | My Lost Account

Yes and it has been holding up a large purchase as we had no idea how much it was. They were bought by a grandparent in the 70's and daughter has moved a few times since then. We have found out if was £20 and done the same as you, filled in the form and after a month daughter rang and they said there is another form now which has to be signed by someone responsible which has been done and now, once again, waiting to be told we can buy the others. Missed 2 draws because of the hold ups.

Thank you. Gave them a ring - they think they need another week - seems to be a little bit of a backlog. I went through My Lost Account as I know absolutely nothing about these bonds other than when they roughly might have been purchased and by whom. If there are any, then I don't hold out much hope for them having won anything at all, but it would be nice to add them to my current holding.

Yes, it seems to take a very long time. The first letter took a month to arrive. I then had to send my signature, and have someone confirm my identity, which has taken another month. The letter also said that they may require more info, and they'll be in touch if they do. It's a lot of admin for potentially such a very small sum of money!

That's really rubbish that it's prevented your daughter from taking part in the draw. I was able to open a premium bonds account a few years ago and pay into it, even though there is potentially an existing holding in my name.

I only found out recently through relatives that they were all bought PBs when they were born by this particular relation, and that they would imagine that my siblings and I would have been bought them too.

She has never bought any and only knew about these because I told her there were some somewhere. She said she wished she had not told them she had them and just went ahead and bought them as a new account. It is money she has inherited and spreading it out a bit.

Why doesn't she just open an online PB account on the NS&I website, @FishPie2 ? If you now know the old PB is only £20 then surely she could invest up to £49980 that way? Any new PBs bought by 31st May would be eligible for the July draw. The old PB could then be added to that account when it is found and confirmed as hers.

Like Mint I was able to open an online PB account relatively recently to buy new PBs, when there is already potentially a small old PB in my name. Who has said or where is it written that your DD can't do that now?

They have all her details now and know where the bonds were bought etc and she said she has had 3 conversations with Sunderland which were recorded. She has also sent the forms back they asked for signed by her boss so feels she has to go down the road she is going now.
Thanks anyway.

I’m ridiculously excited about this draw. Just saying.

It will soon be June. I do feel like we're nearly there and starting on the final countdown:

6 days left to add PBs for July's draw - 31/5
7 days to AM - 1/6
8 days to the HVW list - 2/6
9 days to the full results on Prize checker and the apps - 3/6.

This year seems to be going very quickly, except for the 3 weeks after every draw!

AM sun 1
LIST mon 2
APP Tue 3

8 days till list

i don’t get excited about AM

I’ll be getting a student loan refund of £295 soon, so that’ll be going straight into Premium Bonds once it’s paid out!

Me too! I'm going to steam clean the hallway this weekend so that AM has a nice, fresh entrance. I'm also going to make some gingernuts. That way, I win, come what may: nice full biscuit tin, sparkling hall and the thrill of anticipation.

I'll be sure to make enough biscuits for all of you.

Good luck everybody!

I had a quick look at the May results to get a snapshot of the range of the winners of the very highest prizes last month.

All the £!m and £100k winners purchased their winning bonds between October 1999 and January 2025, with most being purchased pre-2024. Their winning bonds ranged from £25 to £50k and their holdings ranged from £175 to £50k.

It is only a snapshot of one month, but it does confirm that a wide range of dates, bonds and holdings do win. So, we all do really have a chance, even those of us with smaller holdings. Good luck to one and all.

Great detective work @IrrationalPremiumBondFury

If your family had 4x Full Holdings, it would take an average of 13,616 years to win the £1 million jackpot.

Please don't get your hopes up.

Or, you could win the million in the next draw. That is what keeps your hopes up😁

But two people do win every month. That’s why I keep doing it because I lose my stake on the lottery but not on PBs.

I also had a quick look at the winners of the May prizes of £50k:
Winning bonds purchased - Aug 95 to March 25
Winning bond values - £25 to £50k
Winners' holdings - £300 to £50k.

Of the 157 winners of £50k in May, 71 had FH, leaving 86 who did not.

Some interesting ones with small holdings winning £50k in May, including:
Kirklees - Purchased Dec 24, Bond £175, Holding £300
Somerset - Purchased Oct 23, Bond and Holding £1025
Inner London - Purchased Sept 01, Bond £500, Holding £1350
Humberside - Purchased March 25, Bond £95, Holding £3085.

When I say purchased, obviously some of the winning bonds could have originally been prizes for those who reinvest any winnings.

For me, it's not about getting my hopes up, it's about knowing there is a chance - without any risk of losing our 'stake' - and hoping we beat the odds to win something significant to us, not necessarily £1m.

Good luck everyone! Only a week to go to the full results now. 🍀

and there are 326,771 realities where a family with 4x FH don't win the jackpot next month.

That's OK, I don't mind the reality of the last draw, it is the hope of the next which keeps me investing in PBs.

I don’t have PBs with the expectation of winning the jackpot. I’m not sure many of us do. I like the fact that the winnings are tax free and by sticking my money in there I’m reducing the amount of tax I have to pay on interest.

All the comments about tidying up for AM etc are a joke. We’re all just gathering here waiting for the draw.

Same for me @Jins. It is just a short term resting place for some cash. No tidying up here, in fact seeing as its at the end of my working week my house will look worse than normal!

I would be happy with £100,000 or £50,000.

I honestly don’t expect to win the million hence no cooking or cleaning for mmmmm of AM 😂

but to win £5/10/25k that wouid make a diff to me

Yes, those amounts would make a difference to me too!