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 😄

Thanks so much @MintBiscuit65 - much appreciated. We all need to keep the faith!

Hi may I join: had my bonds for a year now, and i've had a very disappointing return of only £775. I have the maximum invested, and this includes four months where i've won nothing.

I hoped I would at least make about 1500 over the year, but not even half that.

I guess hopes brings it eternal and i've had a quick read of the thread and it seems as though some of you have had very big wins.So it can happen.

Have any if you had this, youve had an extremely bad year?And then its picked up. I do know it is chance.So previous bad luck doesn't necessarily mean I will get bad luck going forward.

I got a text to say I won a prize but forgot I even had premium bonds. Can’t remember if I picked for it to go back into bonds or account!

Be careful of this.. I’m not aware that NS&I use texts to inform winners. Post yes. Email yes. The email won’t come out until a couple of days from now.

Oh thank you!! 🙏

I’ve had texts the last two months from them when I’ve won.

I stand corrected then! I didn’t realise we could receive texts. I don’t recall that being an option.

I appreciated the pause to check though as I’ve fallen for a scam text recently!

It doesn’t tell you how much, just tells you you’ve won and the winnings have been reinvested, and to check your account. It was maybe an option instead of email as I don’t think I get email notifications from them?

Feel full of suspense now! Wonder how much it is! Exciting even just to win a little prize! Especially since i am skint.

I got an email today saying I had won

Me too

I’ve had Premium Bonds on and off for years and never won ANYTHING. I like to think the universe is saving it up to one day surprise me with the £1million!
Currently have £400 in there.

£125 on FH
They definitely text

I've had FH for one year now and the winnings have been slightly less than I estimated on an easy access account by about £160, but that's also taking higher rate tax into account (I have a spreadsheet but too lazy to fire up my laptop to check exact figures!). I also had a few months of no wins, which sucks, but I'm going to stick with PB for now and see how it goes.

My holdings are earmarked for retirement/future house move so won't be invested forever but while they are there's always hope of a bigger win -or better still a knock on the door!- so I'm ok to take a relatively small hit on the return for now.

Does it go directly into your bank account if under a certain amount (if have selected that option)?

Then again if we've had a £10k and £50k here this week, I can't decide if that gives us hope that even smaller pots can win big or whether our luck is exhausted as a PB huddle. What is our collective noun?

As long as your prize is under £10k they will pay it via your chosen method automatically. Anything bigger gets a letter in the post asking what you want to do next.

A big fat £0 for me for the fourth month running (£17.5K holding). £175 won in the last year. I seem to be in a very dry spell!

Nothing for me again on £10k.

I only have a small holding of £1000 and I’ve only had them for 9 months, but for the first time I had an email to say I’d won today and I won £100. Obviously would have liked to have won big, but it’s enough to vindicate my investment for 2-3 years vs a savings account, so that’s great. Anything else in the next 2 years is a bonus!

Lovely to get first win and yes small ones can win. I do well on small ones

I wasn’t aware of premium bonds until I saw this thread, I currently have £6k aside for a renovation, is it worth putting it in? I will need to take it out again in a few months? Can you just dip in and out like this ? Thankyou

It really depends how long you are planning on leaving it in before you will need it. It needs to be held for a full calendar month before being eligible for a draw so anything added between now and the end of February will be eligible for the start of April draw. With lower holdings compared to the max holding of £50k you would also need to be happy that there is a chance you may win nothing at all in the time it’s invested. You can however withdraw the funds at any time but may take a couple of days to reach your bank.

Three months in the best savings account you can find for that £6k would generate £50 - £60 of interest. Personally I wouldn’t bother and would instead buy PB’s.