NS&I has released the latest data about unclaimed Premium Bond prizes – and the figures are staggering! The number of unclaimed prizes has increased in the last year by 50,000 – a further £2 million that has not been claimed over the last year alone.
In total, there is now £81 million waiting to be collected – and six of those prizes are £100,000 – one of which is registered to a bond holder with an Australian address. According to NS&I over 37% of the unclaimed prizes belong to bondholders living abroad – or their whereabouts is unknown.
So what about the other 63%?!
Well, over £9 million belongs to people in the Southeast, with the East and North East customers failing to claim over £5 million in each region.
What are Premium Bonds?
Premium Bonds are very popular as rather than interest, you are placed into a prize draw each month and could win tax free prizes of up to £1 million. That said, there are only two £1 million prizes per month and none of these have remained unclaimed! But, in 2023, more than 63 million prizes were paid out, worth over £4.6 billion.
Basically each £1 purchases one Premium Bond and all the bonds you own are placed into a random monthly prize draw where you can win between £25 and £1 million each month – or you might win nothing at all!
In January, there is expected to be 90 £100,000 prizes and 180 £150,000 prizes and the odds of each £1 Premium Bond winning any prize is 21,000 to one. On the other hand, the chance of winning one of the two £1m prizes is 61 billion to one!!
In terms of trying to quantify those stats, according to an article in The Sunday Times, ‘The chance of winning the National Lottery with one £2 ticket is about 45 million to one and the chance of winning the EuroMillions lottery with one £2.50 ticket is about 139 million to one!”
But the key difference here is that you do not lose your original deposit into the Premium Bonds. The only risk is that you earn nothing on your cash – but your original deposit is safe!
How can you make sure you always receive your winnings?
The best way to make sure that all future prizes are claimed is to request that they are either reinvested into your Premium Bond account if your holding is less than £50,000 – or paid into your bank account automatically. If you are not already receiving your prizes this way, take a look here to update your preference, or call NS&I on 08085 007 007 to change your prize options and to check if there are any outstanding prizes due!
Luckily, there is no time limit for claiming prizes. So, good luck and please let us know if you discover an unclaimed prize!!
Happy Christmas!!
@savingschampion
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