PREMIUM BONDS APRIL 2026 (title edited by MNHQ at request of OP)

[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://pbprizes.com/calculator/

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 😄

What a bunch of nasty, sour posts from @killtheturkey and @dailyconniptions. You both couldn't be further from the truth.

Nothing since October for me ... And I had planned on buying french doors for the kitchen with my winnings this month.

agreed @Dearover, this is a lovely, supportive thread and no need to snark at others when you have no idea of their situation.
i had £30k+ until recently and it was all from inheritance but I have lent money to dear friends who are in a sticky situation and need it more than me at the moment.
Nothing for me this month on the £14k ish we hold as a family but I’m building it back up and aiming for FH! £775 in this month is 775 more chances to win.

£0 for DH and £175 for me. Both FHs.

Nothing for me, but then I've only got £1025 in there. Need to remember to transfer those savings over at the end of this month!

£850 on full holding

Nothing on £21k, but I had decent wins the last two months so was due a duff month anyway.

Big fat zero here…… I should probably start moving some but there’s always that pull and the fact Dad bloody loved them so much!

We won’t have any come the summer as we’re having a loft conversion and extension so might just leave the bulk of what’s left in for one more draw and see what happens!

But I do love this thread and think it’s great to see what (and not) everyone wins! I only had FH as my Dad passed away but loved tracking his bonds for the 12months after he passed away and sharing it on here!!

Fingers crossed for April everyone!!

It’s not nasty and sour, this is how marketing works - encouraging people to invest. It’s good to keep an eye on other forms of investment, and maintain a healthy scepticism about methods of achieving this. I have no idea what’s true and what’s invented; none of us do.

I’ll continue with PBs in the hope of a big win someday, but only as long as there is a decent return.

£125 on £16k. Pleased with that as I got £0 in February, and it’s my biggest win since last August.

I had a rare pending ! 50 on 8 grand and last month I had 25 and in Dec 75 so I'm happy
.

I would also add, although this is a supportive thread, this is the ‘money matters’ forum, and if investments aren’t delivering (which many on this thread can attest to), then we reserve the right to discuss this. I’m still in for the moment, though.

£25 on FH. Very disappointing.

@dailyconniptions put your money somewhere better if you need your money to grow.
Pb are known as poor man savings.
I dont have my money here to make money it's a safe place to tuxk some away and it's fun. But my money I want to make money is invested in companies who want to be/remain successful and make money.if you have a few grand in pb why not take one off and try investing.
Fwiw I have 8 grand now but have had less and ticked over ,over the years. As above I won 50 last night , 25 before that and 75 in Dec.

£75 on FH. I’m happy with that after zero last month.

Where as i’ve only won once with reinvested bond. 😂 my few wins come from older bonds.

£25 for me on just over 10k holdings, I'm happy with that! Well done all of the winners 🏆

@KillTheTurkey agree and discussing other investments is fine ,discussing other people on this thread is not etiquette and most of us are happy when someone wins big.

£100 for me. I have 35k in bonds. 12k of them were added early last year from my redundancy package. Since then I’ve added a further 12k or so in drips and drabs. It seems to be that every time I have won in the last year it’s been thanks to the lump sum I put in.

Might it be worth taking a chunk out and reinvesting it? It does seem strangely coincidental.

(edit to add: I’ve won £1250 on that package in the last 10 draws, which has definitely confirmed it was the best place to have invested it!)

I did post yesterday that someone with £8k won £100k. It isn’t solely people with th FH. I’ve got FH, DH has FH and DD has FH. The most any of us has won at any one time is £750. PB’s are not a guaranteed win. Maybe it’s time to move your money to a global tracker fund or similar?

But there are threads to discuss investments. People could create one.
This one generally celebrates and commiserates …. theres very few arguments which is why i like it. Too many threads on mumsnet go downhill because of opinions and arguments.

I’ve been on this thread ages. I know that there are better ways to invest as do most long termers on here. I have a small amount for fun. I enjoy seeing others wins and comments etc.

£125 here on FH

£425 this month on about 40k 😀

Only £25 for me on FH.

£100 (4 x £25) for DH also on FH.

Seriously considering taking a chunk of mine out now.

£25 for DH, £50 for me. Both FH. DD is not up yet.

Still waiting for the big one 😂

Always the chance of £150m in the euromillions later tho 😉