PREMIUM BONDS JUNE 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.

Martin Lewis’s opinion on pb - quite an interesting read

https://www.saga.co.uk/money-news/premium-bonds

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 holding win a million (March 25) also a £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 April 2025, the prize fund rate - the amount of the total fund paid out in prizes - is 3.8 %

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/cost-of-living/nsi-premium-bonds-rate-changes-31317737

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 😄

I love that someone who has holdings of £71 since 1962 has won £50k!

I wonder what it feels like to have waited 63 years to win that. And if they'd have invested it instead, what it would be worth now!

£250 on full holdings.

Thank you! That is good intel.

£25 on full holdings for me and the same on full holdings for DH. I think we are going to move our money. £100k elsewhere would get us a much better return, even with tax taken off.

Nothing for me again. Congratulations to all the winners!

I hope you win big and get your wondrous field, it sounds beautiful.
I’d give some to my son towards a deposit for a house or flat, and buy a local wood that’s owned by the council, if it ever came up for sale.
its a walled wood , with a locked gate, so I wouldn’t be depriving anyone of it if it was mine! And pay something off our mortgage, or clear it, depending what I won!
I've had the maximum pb in the past when we were in rented and looking for a house, but that was a few years ago. And now I've just got a few hundred pounds, so not much chance of winning,but I live in hope! And have my fingers crossed 🤞 as I type!

Nothing for me.

Late to the party - was away during the draw and Mumsnet on my phone doesn't work very well - but I won £50 this month! Just checked on NS&I and it was the very first bond I bought five years ago! Reinvested for the next draw 🍀

Congratulations to all the winners this month. Amazing to see a big win in the group!

I won £125 on nearly full holdings. Im ok with that.

£25.00 for me and it’s my 3rd draw -nothing on first draw, £25 on second and third draw. 😊

I won nothing again on around about £20,000, So I’ve taken half of it out to put it into my ISA, my interest rate has only been about 2% over the past year. I like the anticipation, but I think the continual disappointment is worse! I might put some more back in again when I get some money from an inheritance come through.

My
regular saver matures today. I’ll get about £3k back so am going to put half in ns&i to build up the stash there.

Just £25 for me on £20k

my little boy has some bonds and has done for over 3 years <£3k …. He had his first £25 win too :)

Can I put an early bid in for a visit from agent million please? Just realised how much I am spending on gig tickets and hotels and I either need an intervention or a big win 🤣🤣

Great excitement on the arrival at last of the white envelope from Sunderland with news of my long lost PBs gifted to me in childhood. Except they have only sent me information about the PBs I bought over the last year or so, the ones I have an active online account with NS&I for. Not a sausage about the lost old PBs I was actually enquiring about. I had told them on the form that I didn't need to know about the recent ones. What a waste of over 2 months toing and froing and waiting and the price of a stamp. Surely they could have said if there is no trace of any PBs at that time at that address, or if they are still in my late parent's name and this is what you have to do to claim them? As it is they don't even mention them. I am suspicious that they have just taken the easy option, only looking at my online account and not trying to find the old PBs at all. Has anyone had any experience of this? Any advice please?

I suspect @BuyingButterAndSatinSandals that those elusive bonds have actually won £1m multiple times and Ernie is just making you wait to be reunited with your largesse ... Hold your nerve!

Following as I’m trying to find my childhood bonds too…😩

Try calling pb to ask about tracing them if the letter didn’t help

@BuyingButterAndSatinSandals I had a similar rigmarole. I got the letter saying they had identified a possible holding, and had to send signatures, etc. Then they sent me a letter to say they hadn't found any other holdings, and sent me my bond record - which is not what I had requested.

However, around the same time an additional £10 appeared on my balance in my NS&I dashboard. I went into transaction history to see what was going on and there was the £10 with the description "amalgamation to". I then double checked the bond record they had sent me - right at the bottom was my childhood bonds.

I wouldn't say communication is their strong point - a letter to say that they had found £10 worth of bonds and would add them to my account would have been nice. So it might be worth checking your transaction history to see if anything has been added.

My daughter has just had the same rigmarole with them re PB since childhood. In the end she rang them but you have to know how to answer their pre-recorded questions. Just keep say Yes or No quite firmly and not much else if you can help it, don't go into explanation with the machine. In the end you will get to speak to a real person, she said it is frustrating but keep going. The young man on the phone was very helpful and sorted it out.

My 3 children have had £1000 each of PB for 18 years. None of them have won anything at all for 5+ years (if not longer).

They used to regularly get £25 or £50, but absolutely nada for years. Do you think that’s unusually rubbish or about right?

any insight’s gratefully received 💷

It really varies. £1-5k should win a couple of prizes a year if lucky

if unlucky then nothing

I seem to be one of the more lucky ones tho some months win nothing on my meagre holdings

but then many with £50k win nothing and get pissed off and say they could earn more via interest in a savings account

my reply

move them then 😂

That’s very unusual for £3K not to generate any prizes for years @AgnethaF . Can your kids increase their holdings? That may shake things up a bit (one of the theories on here).

I found my dms £1 bond from the 50s by using their online form, got no reply but then they eventually wrote to her with the details. Sadly still £1 !!

Only £50 this month on FH. Disappointed.
But better than nothing.