3.6% Prize Fund for Premium Bonds

[LuckyBluePhoton]

Did anyone have any BIG or ........... £25-£50-£100 prizes Aug Sept Oct 2025 ??

Yes, why?

Yes, both me and DH. We both win most months.

We normally win every month (both have FH and have had for many years) but the past couple of months have been dire, £200 in Sept and nil in Oct.☹️

Won on aug and Sept. Nothing in October. Did you win anything @LuckyBluePhoton?

13 Months with Premium Bonds - average balance nearly £20k

22 prizes total £1,100+ but only £100s , £50s and £25s
and I haven't won any £100 prize for 6 months

Just ONE nil month - which was Nov 2024

Waiting for the Twinkle of any sort of Lucky Blue Photon

So you’ve had 5.5% return? That’s great! I have full holdings and my last 12 months have been £1900, so you’re doing better than me!

There’s a regular premium bond thread on here @LuckyBluePhoton its on this money matters section. We all share our ups and downs in there. Positive thread.

Not big but nothing less than £100 for each of those months.

My return for the past 12 draws is 3.6%, i had 2 months with 0 prizes but generally get 2 or 3 prizes of £25/50/100 each month but had £500+ win earlier this year. Ive got full holdings

Got £300 this month which is my best (have had £300 once before), have had full holdings for 14 months now. One month got nothing.

For me it's mostly the excitement every month of planning how I'll invest/spend my £1 million when I win.

We have both had FH for years but recently the prizes have been dire and I am moving some of my money out.
Already have ISA's, investments, shares etc (PB's are our "accessable money") but I am going to reduce my PB holding and go for another fixed rate ISA (4.2%). My OH is sticking with PB's and as I am only moving £20k we will still be able to look forward to "the knock!"

No BIG prizes, but yes - I did have some wins.

I've only ever won twice two years apart; £25 the first year and then £125 the second time. How are people winning monthly? Mind you, I've only got £5k so that's probably why I've hardly won anything.

I've only got £5k so that's probably why I've hardly won anything.

That's it, you have answered your own question. The more bonds you have, you increase your chance of winning.

We used to get multiple prizes every month (and have done for years) but since the recent reduction in prizes, it has reduced considerably.

I won £1000 a few years ago, but I remember the time I watched a smartly dressed woman walking down my path and for a brief moment I thought 'OMG it's Agent Million'.

But the bubble was burst when I recognised her as one of the people who delivered the hire cars we use for work and often get delivered to our home addresses.

I can't find it at the moment but Moneysavingexpert got a mathematician to do an analysis of the likelihood of winning at different holding levels and I remember that under around £10-20k you'll more than likely win less than the payout rate, but when you have tens of thousands you've got a pretty good chance of being fairly close when you average it over time.

I think if you're wanting to win a comparable amount to what you'd receive in interest it's only worth it if you're a higher rate taxpayer who's already used up their ISA and personal savings allowance and can afford to hold £20k+ of PBs. In that case the tax free prizes mean you'll likely get more than you would from a 4/5% interest paying savings account where you'll pay 40%+ tax on the interest.

I've won every month this year, DH had one nil month. Our total winnings are around £2300 I think.

Here we are, our current thread:

PREMIUM BONDS OCTOBER | Mumsnet

I’ve been doing PB’s for a few years, hardly ever winning and never that much until I went to the max earlier this year. Highest prize is £300. Most people on the high value prize list have the max and from my observations on the PB’s thread on here, you need to have at least £30k in holdings to win regularly.

Just wanted to also recommend the really positive and cheering thread linked to above 🙂

£31,5k in for 6 months and not won a thing yet

to Dippy the OLD Dino

£5k over 12 months should be 3 prizes ....... on average - Good Luck

The GOOD and N E G A T I V E luck I had with a £13k Bond cluster
over 13 months

M1 was 2 x £50 prizes
M2 and M3 NIL prizes ....... then sundry prizes to March 2025 -

6 month Total £325 prizes

from April to Oct 2025 -- 7 months of NIL prizes ......

SO I cashed in the whole LUMP SUM , it's a waste of Time and Money
and then I purchased £13k NEW Bonds into 15 smaller CLUSTERS

New to premium bonds. I’ve just invested 43k. (One deposit of 40k and one of 3k). I’ve chosen the payment rather than reinvest option. If I manually top up my balance will I miss out on future draws when eligible.

Also, on the winners list, what does the value mean on the right column? The original amount the person invested?

Thanks for an informative thread. I’m not eligible for draw until January but dreaming of one million. As if 😂

It means value of that particular holding, so on the high winners list, one of yours will show £40,000 and one for £3,000, there’s also a column for total holding.