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 😄

Signing in. Thanks for the new thread @Blondeshavemorefun

@Blondeshavemorefun next time get in there quick

I usually do a new thread at around the 950 mark but people got chatty

shameful behaviour saying what they had won 😂😂😂

Indeed phase2, I self insure for major bills and hold the £10k in premium bonds so I can't complain when I need to use them for that purpose!

DISCUSTING

I know that I could make guaranteed money in an ISA or high interest account, but I like the fun of knowing what I could win. Last month I won £100 and the month before £250, which I'm happy with on £37k after winning v little last year.

I'll be adding to that each month via direct debit and also when other savings' accounts mature in April and then Aug. Aiming to have over £40k in there by the end of the year.

My husband has bought some pb's in November. So far we have had small wins around £100 but this month he won £225! very chuffed!

if you win on premium bonds - do you get notified automatically through your account? Or do you have to manually check?

I get an email but it's usually at least one day later. I've never waited for it and have always alert knowin by the time they told me. I assume for people with older bonds, they send a letter to whatever address they have for the holder.

I get an email a day or 2 later and a letter around a week after (Royal Mail depending!). I'm pretty sure you can change the notification settings on the NS&I website.

So just a couple of weeks to go now:

AM - Monday 31st
HVP list - Tuesday 1st
App results - Wednesday 2nd

Yep. I was just coming to post new dates for April draw - you beat me 😀

Can you pay into someone else’s premium bonds account (an adult)?

Yes I think so once have their account number and ns&i id

I buy for my step grandson but I couldn’t set up the account - think that’s only parents and grandparents

Jeez 4 pages into the new thread before I twigged why the other one wasn’t moving !

I had a nice surprise yesterday as letter had been sent to my mums saying I’d won £150 on some old bonds that were still in maiden name - I really ought to sort that out !

My cheques have just arrived. £100 x 3 on £30,000.

Newbie here. I'm quite skint but have two "side hustles", one which I started last month and have decided to put the money from that into PBs (only £50 so far). I realise the bigger investments are more likely to win but that's what I have. My mum was actually a bit dismissive saying it was "pointless".
I have nothing to lose and will add to it each month depending on my side hustle income. I decided I have nothing to lose.

@Vinorosso74 nothing ventured, nothing gained! Good luck and hopefully you’ll be adding to your PBs as you go along.

Small can win. March winner of a million had £100 in bonds

yes rare but It happens

@Blondeshavemorefun that's what made my final decision. I have opted to reinvest any winnings and will add each month from that income.
Got to start somewhere!

Exactly, @Vinorosso74 . Good luck to you. It would be easy to not see the benefit of that extra bit of money if it just disappeared into the general pot (if you don't actually need it to pay for essentials) or you spent it on 'more stuff'. Interest in a savings account would be negligible and you would probably lose it all by playing the lottery or something like Omaze. With PBs your money is safe, you are gradually adding to it so it will continue to grow and there is also a chance, albeit small, that you will win something from £25 to £1m.

A friend told me recently that she'd made a decision to stop buying a weekly newspaper and inexpensive bottle of wine and put the money into PBs instead. After a year she's got over £500 in PBs as a small emergency fund (also set to reinvest any prizes), safe and with a tiny chance of winning something small or even life-changing. It is a shame that she has to sacrifice her 2 weekly treats but she decided to make the PBs her priority instead. She has got used to life without the newspaper and wine (or pretty much) and intends to carry on for another year, which will take her to over £1k in PBs, even if she doesn't win anything. I think it's fantastic to achieve that when money is tight.

Not too long now folks - 10 days to full results.

I recommend PB's to friends based on the old adage 'You've got to be in it to win it'. it probably won't be you who wins big, but it might be. I just read that one third of the UK's population have PB's.

Is anyone a small business owner placing their tax into pbs until it's due?
I've read of this a few times on Mumsnet and just wondering if anyone is doing it on the thread?

I do this. It's always nice when I get a little win (still hanging on for a big one - max prize for me has been £100 in a month so far!), and feels good to get a boost from money that is destined for the tax man.