PREMIUM BONDS DEC/JAN 2026

[Blondeshavemorefun]

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 holding 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 £1800 in prizes at 3.6%

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

If have £1.5k average luck is £25 once 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

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

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, we had the highest 4.65% But it has been steadily falling since, and of August 2025 it’s 3.6 %

Estimated prizes in August compared to June:
£1m - same
£100k - 4 less
£50k - 8 less
£25k - 15 less
£10k - 38 less
£5k - 78 less
£1k - 780 less
£500 - 2340 less
£100 and £50 - 16,5872 less each

But

£25 - 371,737 more.

So many of us may win £25 from August but means the higher value prizes are way less 🙀😢

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 £1800 (3.6% interest on £50k)
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

Winnings divided by amount have x 100

So say over the year 450 on fh ,1700 on fh and £25 on £1000

450 / 50000 x 100 =.9% so bad

1700/50000 x 100=3.4% so good

25/1000x100=2.5% so an average return

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.

People 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& date of birth

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
AM - Day before first working day - Millionaire knock /call
LIST - First day of working month showing all winners million to £1k winners - which I always put up for those who can't find it
APP - 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 put them in a fixed bond savings account so I don’t spend it plus make a small bit of interest. I’m trying to buy a house one day and get out of my council flat so every little helps 🙏🏼

My DF bought premium bonds whenever he had spare cash … was just what he liked to do. And he won all the time! He also played the lottery once, because my DM was going to and he had one pound in his pocket. He won over 4k - back in 2000. He never played it again. Decided to quit while he was ahead 😂

Likewise here, first month with max holding but won £775 so am very happy with that!

Wow. Thats. A huge %. Well done

That;s interesting because I and my husband each have £50,000 and "won" over £5000 in 2024 but it's more than halved in the year to date. I hate the re-proliferation of Gordon Brown's £25 wins at the expense of the higher values

I have had £3000 PB since 1988. I have never won anything.

5.4% so a healthy win

Do you use the cream app. That will give you a yes or no

It’s good you win each month as get those who don’t on FH

Since having full holdings I have won every month the lowest I’ve had is 175 it’s usually a good few £25’s 😂

I’m considering purchasing a full holding because I inherited a substantial amount of money and I am sick of paying tax on the interest!! I want a safe investment so that I can keep as much of the original amount as I can to pass onto my children - none of them need it at present.

I’m about to contact a financial advisor, but I do think this sounds like a good option for me.

They are a good investment as in you will never lose your money.

50 K you should win most months. Obviously, some people don’t win and if you read the previous thread, you have those slightly unhappy that they haven’t won anything some months

If you read my first post it will give you info and if you won around 1700 over the year that would be the same as if you had it in a high interest account.

Obviously winnings you’re not paying tax but when they go into a nominated account they will be

Thank you I’m going to trawl thru this info. Really useful.

I wonder if I am better off doing smaller amount as reinvesting any winnings

Just to add NS&I do offer fixed rate bonds as well as PB. Not sure how competitive they are but a quick check with MSE should help. Get £20k into a cash ISA before Apr 06 and then another £20k on Apr 07 so that you have £40k which earns tax free. The rules are due to change for the cash amount in future years so take advantage of the extra allowance whilst you can. Be sure to check any institutions are not linked so you have full FSCS guarantees (for example Virgin money is now part of Nationwide so you would not receive FSCS above the maximum amount for one of these banks/BS as opposed to saving in either NW or VM and then another unlinked institution where you would receive 2x the protected amount ). As a note, large ‘life events’ such as inheritance/sale of a house receives a 6months extension whereby this whole amount protected amount is raised to the level saved rather than limited to the FSCS guarantee. Joint accounts receive 2x the FSCS guarantee automatically. Hope that helps a bit!

@Blondeshavemorefun thank you! I’ve moved my money around and the first thing I did was get an ISA. I have a reminder set for the 7th of April to start another!
Good point about connected institutions, and I will look into fixed bonds - thanks again. MSE is my most searched site atm!

@Nugg Please don’t buy the PBs until the end of the month as you’ll be losing out on interest.

Apologies @Netaporter I’m trying to use my phone app and failing as I tagged the wrong person!!

Get £20k into a cash ISA before Apr 06 and then another £20k on Apr 07 so that you have £40k which earns tax free. The rules are due to change for the cash amount in future years so take advantage of the extra allowance whilst you can.

@Netaporter Nobody will be able to put £20k into a cash ISA from April 2027 unless they’re 65 or over. The limit will be £12k.

I think I acknowledged this change in my post? To be clear I meant put £20k in a cash ISA before 06.04.2026 and then put another £20k in on 07.04.2026. Maybe you read April 06 and April07 as referring to April 26 and 27?

I have checked and actually the dates are 05.04.26 and then again on 06.04.26 rather than the 6th and 7th so apologies for the confusion! It was well intended and I was typing whilst on a treadmill 😂

December 2025 = zilch, nothing, nadda on FH.

Total winnings for 2024 on FH - £2,025.00
Total winnings for 2025 on FH - £ 975.00

A big drop @BippidyBoppety so will you stay in pb

Unlucky!

i’ve had between 3-5k for the last 5 years and i’ve won several times( 5 between 2024/25) … the most £175 and lowest £25. @Blondeshavemorefun is a very lucky low amount winner too.

Yes, sorry - I didn’t read your post properly.

Indeed I an

think of the odds. Some low have to win , same as some high don’t win

I've won £50 this month and £75 last month, with a £12 k holding. I don't think that's too bad but I was rather hoping for the £1 million prize....