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 posted it upthread a few days ago @tricerotopsrule

AM comes back several times then posts a letter in apparently.

Forgive the slight thread diversion but for any fans Europe are touring this year, including some UK dates August to October.

I do very well with small wins. £25 odd £50

but never over £500

tho I actually have just baked as mini blondes wanted to - we made chocolate chip mini muffins

Is the sensitive content about baking?

Prob mine is. I’m. A useless cook 😂😂

I was so excited. And then realised that my first purchase in Jan only works for the March draw! All the best to everyone for Feb. << Adopts Mariah Carey vocals >> It’s nearly tiiiiiimmmmmeeeeeee

My regular payment has just gone in so that’s ready for march 🤞🤞 good luck everyone 😊

I’ve got my regular £25 going in (done it for a few months now and looks like I can keep this going) and also a little extra from Christmas gifts which is too late for this draw, but will hopefully be able to stay in for the rest of the year.

It’s still only a couple of thousand in total but gives me slightly more chance of a win than I had before!

I won’t be baking - I think AM might change their mind if they do but the house is presentable!

Just added my 1p challenge to PB today. Should I have done it yesterday?

I think they’ll be eligible for March @SayingThisWithLove, like the money that I invested this week. But it is the most efficient time of the month to top up.

Thanks @Muchtoomuchtodo, I wasn’t sure if it had to be done on a working day.

Is that a quicker way to check if you’ve won a prize of £1K or more compared to checking the HVP list?

I don’t check before the app is ready as love it when the app shows someone getting excited with an apple or carrots and the excitement of knowing I’ve won something is woooop wooop wooop!

I opened both my kids accounts today & deposited £500 each, will this be eligible for the March draw?

Yes, those new bonds are now eligible for the March draw.

The pic has changed on the prize checker app to a girl with her mouth open. I think that’s a new pic (they usually rotate them).

Happy AW day everyone!

Morning everyone,

Checking in for duty!

I feel like death warmed up with a rotten cold so if AM comes to me s/he find me in my pjs on the sofa. I think I have a few chocolate digestives left and that will have to do.

Do you think s/he would mind running the hoover round and doing a bit of ironing while s/he's here?

Happy AM day!

I have a question - I have had premium bonds for quite a number of years and always set to reinvest, along with topping up the account more when I could. This month I have finally managed to top up to FH, so will have FH in the draw from next month.

I am assuming that if I win the million, AM will tell me how I will get that paid to me, but what happens now to the lower prize amounts. If I win £25 this month, it can no longer be reinvested. Will they contact me to ask where I want the prize to be paid, or will it just automatically go into the bank account I used when I initially set up my account?

I'm looking forward to deciding how to spend any winnings now, as I've not really felt like I could use them before. When I do win it's usually £25 though, so it'll probably go on a takeaway...

I imagine yes, just paid into your bank. But check because you might get sent cheques in the post.

If you're worried about frittering it away, you could withdraw a larger chunk and spend it on something you actually want (a holiday, a weekend in London, a handbag?). That way you'll have created a gap for any winnings to be reinvested.

Average luck says you should get winnings of about 1.5k a year on FH, so you could treat yourself to something nice, and a year from now it should be replenished, and you can do it all over again.

I just read the Agent Millionaire article, wow amazing! Can’t wait til they turn up here today 🤣

@ScarlettSunset why don't you set up a new savings account and transfer any winnings into that so you can still see them grow?

I was just thinking how crazy would it be if someone commenting on here had a knock on the door from AM. We could have live updates 🤞 🍀 🥂