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 😄

@EdwinaLIzzard congratulations on your win! Fab news

This is a well known and published fact. It’s very clear that you put your money in and anyone with less than full holdings absolutely should expect nothing. If you’re getting annoyed about it then take your money elsewhere where you would get a set percent guaranteed. Premium bonds are a lottery and you play for a potential big win but are prepared for nothing.

I did shit last year tbh but it’s actually encouraging me to aggressively save into them so I’m counting that as a win 😊 hoping for a better return this year but still happy with the savings I have accrued

So that’s March done

next April

AM Tue 31
LIST wed 1
APP Thur 2

Ooo in time for Easter - we could buy ALL the chocolate with £1m

@KarmenPQZ I was dead chuffed last year with 4.8%.

Betty's in York always have a Bee-Yoo-Ti-Ful egg in their window worth hundreds. Buy it, smash it, eat it!

Buy it, smash it, eat it!

And share it with our PB friends!

That is a win for sure!

im debating putting more money in. Can anyone summarise the dates ie for the April draw so I don’t miss it but also so I don’t take it out of an interest paying account too soon? I know ive seen posts on this in the past and kinda laughed to myself about the pettiness as I’m sure the interest would be less than the cup of peppermint tea I bought in a cafe yesterday but why not ‘play’ the game!!!!

Ladies, if AM comes a knocking at Chez Donkey, (as I'm fully expecting this month, if you're listening in universe...) I will buy you your own Betty eggs! 🥚

It's too late to buy Premium Bonds for April's draw as they need to be in for a full calendar month. But you can buy them up to 31 March and your new bonds will be included in the May draw. So if you have money earning interest that you want to put in, you need to check the details of when you need to withdraw to have it available on 31 March.

If you ask for prizes to be reinvested in your account, they will be in the next draw. For example, if you won anything this month it will be in the April draw.

Thanks @elkiedee was
about to reply and saw you had

Thanks @Blondeshavemorefun and @elkiedee much appreciated!

@KarmenPQZ 4.1% for me last year. 3.7% in 2024.

I have a regular payment to pbs which goes out on the last day of the month. So money will go in on the 31 march which will be in the may draw

£250 on 40k something. Im happy. Will buy a meal at our fave restaurant.

I have cashed in some bonds to fill up our 25/26 ISAs and be ready to make a start on filling next year’s.

Makes sense to try and use full ISA allowances given they may be reduced after April 27 (I say may as there could be yet another U-turn…)

So DH and I now have £25k each. Might take more out later in the year but I’ve had PBs for so long that I can’t imagine not being in the draw!

By the way, my ‘might need it quickly’ money is now in a Chase account paying 4.5%. It was incredibly easy to open on the app (no connection, and the rate drops after a year but it’s a decent (taxable) interest rate for short term savings. I came across it via MSE.

DH had £50 on FH, I had £500 on FD. We're on a short break so treated ourselves to a £100 evening meal last night.

And that’s what pb are about. Treating self or changing life

Fed up of the low winnings even on FH so I've just cashed £20k in to put in an ISA before the tax year is up. I've set to reinvest any winnings so can start building up again and see if the new bonds have better luck!

It's that time of the month again! No, not that one! It's time to limber up any arthritic knees and hips for some rock god/goddess strutting and warm up those vocal cords for a thread singalong. We're halfway there, PB gang.

I'm still thinking of pulling out £20k to top up my cash ISA (already at the max) on or after April 6th, but having 20,000 fewer 'tickets in the raffle' makes me lean towards staying on FH and it's not like interest rates are high now anyway. The psychology of having PB's is interesting - I'm surprised nobody's written a film or TV series about it!

Whoop.

love the fact Feb is a short month

April

AM Tue 31
LIST wed 1
APP Thur 2

This month I would love to win £12,500 please to pay for a staircase and fitting. With £25 I could buy a rope and climb that to go to bed. £100 would allow me an extending ladder. So ideally £12,500. Thanks.