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PREMIUM BONDS JULY/AUG 2026

969 replies

Blondeshavemorefun · 30/06/2026 21:48

PB have been about since 1957 so 80yrs next year

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.

From July’s draw the expected prize rate will go from 3.3 per cent to 3.8 per cent while the odds of any £1 bond winning will shorten from 23,000 to one to 22,000 to one.

In August 2023, we had the highest 4.65%

The total prize pot will go from just under £376.2 million to £436.8 million — up £60.6 million.

So providing you have more than £100 you have better odds winning something from pb than winning the lottery 😄

And obviously far better than the lottery - you don’t lose your stake !!!!!!

https://www.saga.co.uk/money-news/premium-bonds

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.

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 !!! Or in fact any prize

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

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 3.80 % is good as if in an account you wouid be taxed so be more like 3%

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 £1900 (3.8%) interest on £50k

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

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 and 3.8% excellent

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 😄

Prize Checker

Ready to see if you have won a prize? Enter your holder's number to check if you’ve won in this month’s Premium Bonds draw. Good luck!

https://www.nsandi.com/prize-checker

OP posts:
Thread gallery
9
NoEligibilityRequirementsApply · 22/08/2026 08:18

Joining in!

I have just emptied a fairly non-active savings account of £5000 and put it all into PBs. I know they won't be eligible until next month, but they might as well be parked there.

We REALLY could do with a win. We lost 80% of our income late last year and have now burned through our savings. The £5k is not quite the last of it, but was the emergency fund. Might as well hope it can do something useful while we hope we don't have to spend it!

LatteLady · 24/08/2026 14:18

Spotted this in the Guardian at the weekend, but did not get a chance to post - https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/aug/22/premium-bonds-chance-odds-win-nsi-ups-prize-fund

The commentary is interesting about PBs overall... but frankly the commentary on here keeps me going, that plus the thought of meeting Agent Million!

Premium bonds: more chance of win as NS&I ups prize fund rate again

Savings bank estimates there will be 308,000 more prizes available in September draw than the month before

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/aug/22/premium-bonds-chance-odds-win-nsi-ups-prize-fund

Myblueclematis · 25/08/2026 08:54

I bought another £450 worth of bonds that will be going into September's draw, anything to help boost the chances of winning one of the big prizes.

guestusername · 25/08/2026 16:17

I bought another £1K of PB’s at the end of July and my OH has done the same so fingers crossed for both of us!

EightSteps · 26/08/2026 08:54

Limbering up for the upcoming Irrational Hope and Fury event.

Hoping to beat personal best of 675.

Competition is stiff though.

May the best Mumsnetter win!

HouseHouseHouse7 · 26/08/2026 12:57

EightSteps · 26/08/2026 08:54

Limbering up for the upcoming Irrational Hope and Fury event.

Hoping to beat personal best of 675.

Competition is stiff though.

May the best Mumsnetter win!

This made me laugh.

My Personal Best is 525.

NoEligibilityRequirementsApply · 26/08/2026 13:44

My personal best is £100! (But it was also off a £250 holding so not too bad).

westisbest1982 · 26/08/2026 14:03

£350 for me - not great on a year of FH.

Blondeshavemorefun · 26/08/2026 16:35

westisbest1982 · 26/08/2026 14:03

£350 for me - not great on a year of FH.

That is pretty shit tbh

OP posts:
RoseInAPot · 27/08/2026 09:12

Just checking my bank this morning and £25 has popped into my current account.

It has the suffix 'pbz' which is what it shows when a PB prize comes in (I have looked at my old statements to confirm).

Thing is, I (and DH) now have prizes reinvested as we no longer have FH so I'm not sure what is going on here. I know people sometimes get prizes late when a prize has been redrawn for various reasons but why would it not be reinvested if that is what I have in place?

I haven't had any email or message from National Savings so far...

NoEligibilityRequirementsApply · 27/08/2026 10:17

I currently have £50 eligible for this coming draw. I continue to hope....

£5050 for the next one.

Sherunswithwolves · 27/08/2026 10:21

RoseInAPot · 27/08/2026 09:12

Just checking my bank this morning and £25 has popped into my current account.

It has the suffix 'pbz' which is what it shows when a PB prize comes in (I have looked at my old statements to confirm).

Thing is, I (and DH) now have prizes reinvested as we no longer have FH so I'm not sure what is going on here. I know people sometimes get prizes late when a prize has been redrawn for various reasons but why would it not be reinvested if that is what I have in place?

I haven't had any email or message from National Savings so far...

The 'redirected' prizes are always paid out rather than reinvested.

RoseInAPot · 27/08/2026 10:24

Oh thanks @Sherunswithwolves I did not know that!

Shame it didn't have more zeroes on the end 😄

Sherunswithwolves · 27/08/2026 10:26

RoseInAPot · 27/08/2026 10:24

Oh thanks @Sherunswithwolves I did not know that!

Shame it didn't have more zeroes on the end 😄

That would have been marvellous to wake up to 😄

Sunshine99999 · 27/08/2026 10:52

Sept will be the first month I have FH, up from £800 previously (thanks redundancy). Can’t wait for the disappointment of not winning a thing!

HouseHouseHouse7 · 27/08/2026 11:40

I didn’t know about the “redirected” thing either.

Imagine getting £1k + out of the blue though.

RoseInAPot · 27/08/2026 14:02

Well I have now gone online and checked both our NS&I accounts and neither is showing any message about this payment. So no idea if it is mine or DH's. You would think they would at least send a message to the account or an email?

I don't know which account to top up with the massive £25 win! 😂

Sherunswithwolves · 27/08/2026 14:49

Don't PB accounts have to have separate linked bank accounts? I can't remember. Or is there a reference number on the payment that is one of your holder's numbers, @RoseInAPot ?

@HouseHouseHouse7 a few years ago I woke up to £1000 from the post code lottery. I still kick myself that I didn't have my PBs set up fully at that time because it would have gone straight into my account. I paid off my council tax bill instead 🤣 Very boring in retrospect but I was walking on air that day.

RoseInAPot · 27/08/2026 15:40

Sherunswithwolves · 27/08/2026 14:49

Don't PB accounts have to have separate linked bank accounts? I can't remember. Or is there a reference number on the payment that is one of your holder's numbers, @RoseInAPot ?

@HouseHouseHouse7 a few years ago I woke up to £1000 from the post code lottery. I still kick myself that I didn't have my PBs set up fully at that time because it would have gone straight into my account. I paid off my council tax bill instead 🤣 Very boring in retrospect but I was walking on air that day.

Reference number doesn't appear to correlate to holder's numbers. Looking back at statements where we have had winnings credited those numbers always started with an 8 but are otherwise random.

We use our joint account for all things PB related. I might ring the bank just to satisfy my curiosity; it's First Direct and they are usually very helpful.

Sherunswithwolves · 27/08/2026 15:44

It's a nice problem to solve!

Blondeshavemorefun · 27/08/2026 18:21

Would it not show on the blue app

OP posts:
Heylittlesongbird · 27/08/2026 23:10

RoseInAPot · 27/08/2026 14:02

Well I have now gone online and checked both our NS&I accounts and neither is showing any message about this payment. So no idea if it is mine or DH's. You would think they would at least send a message to the account or an email?

I don't know which account to top up with the massive £25 win! 😂

When it happened to us we got a letter explaining. But it came a few days after the payment hit the bank account.

VirtuousVestalVirgin · 28/08/2026 08:12

That is a bit crap. I've just added mine up @westisbest1982 , £1125 over 12 months on FH which is 3.75% gross of the 40% tax I'd have to pay, or 2.25% in real terms.

Still not fabulous. I'll be withdrawing half of them in the next couple of months to pay towards reducing my mortgage. I'll probably leave them at £25k going forward and find somewhere else for the cash I save each year towards mortgage reduction.

Bondedforlife · 28/08/2026 09:47

I just came across this thread and have name changed accordingly. I don’t want to steal the thunder of all of your wins but I just wanted to say never give up hope. This weekend is the anniversary of my knock on the door from Agent Million! It was over 10 years ago now, with £1800 of Premium Bonds bought for me over my childhood by my grandparents. It was quite a shock to put it mildly.

FiloPasty · 28/08/2026 09:51

@Bondedforlife welcome, welcome!
I feel like this is a lucky sign for all of us now we’ve got an actual top prize winner in our midst! You are going to get all the questions!

Were you home then when Agent Million knocked? You need to give us as much information as a birth story!