Premium Bonds can be a fun way to save, as long as you’re happy to accept that it’s unlikely to offer you a regular income.
The form of investment is offered by National Savings and Investment (NS&I), a savings bank owned by the UK Government.
Instead of earning interest on their money, holders of the bonds are entered into a random draw at the start of every month, with tax-free prizes worth between £25 and £1 million.
At the start of this year, the interest rate of its prize fund rose from 2.2 per cent to 3 per cent.
Although this didn’t increase a holder’s odds of winning (which remains at 24,000 to 1), it means there are now more £100,000, £50,000, £25,000, £10,000 and £5,000 prizes available – here’s how to check if you have won.
Have I won the Premium Bonds?
If you hold Premium Bonds and want to check if you’ve won a prize in the latest monthly draw, you can use the NS&I online prize checker here.
Alternatively, you can download the free app from iOS or Android, while Amazon Alexa devices can also check for you, “remembering” back across the past six prize draws.
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To check on your Bonds, you will need your unique holder’s number, which can be found on your bond record or by logging into your account on the NS&I website. It will have either nine of ten digits, or be an eight digit number with a letter at the end.
Prizes don’t carry a time limit, so you can claim as far back as the original 1957 draw.
According to MoneySavingExpert, as of November 2021 there were more than two million unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes, with a total value of almost £75 million.
To reduce the potential for leaving prizes unclaimed, Premium Bonds holders can opt to have them paid directly in their bank account or automatically reinvested into more Bonds.
NS&I says that almost nine in ten prizes are now paid this way, and you can find out more details here.
When are Premium Bonds drawn?
The results of the latest Premium Bonds draw are usually accessible to holders from the second day of the month.
However, the winners themeslves are drawn a day earlier, and NS&I releases the details of the highest prizes – anyone who has won more than £5,000 – at midnight.
All of this changes if the month starts with a weekend or bank holiday, with the prize draw pushed back to the working week.
1 April fell on Saturday this year, which means the Premium Bonds results were drawn on Monday 3 April – and you can see the winners of the biggest prizes here.
Bond holders could then check if they were among the winners from Tuesday 4 April.
Who won the April 2023 Premium Bonds?
A total of 5,018,744 prizes were paid out in the April draw, which carry a combined value of £331,237,050.
These were drawn from a total of 120,449,834,442 eligible numbers.
Two Premium Bonds holders from Somerset and Croydon received the £1m jackpot.
The first winning bond, 236TZ340702, was bought in December 2014 by someone from Somerset, who holds the maximum of £50,000 in Premium Bonds.
April’s second top prize winner comes from Croydon, and holds £25,000 in bonds. Their winning bond carries the number 503VL397852, and was purchased in June 2022.
As well as the two £1m bonds, there are 62 winners of £100,000, 125 of £50,000, 249 of £25,000, 622 worth £10,000 and 1,246 valued at £5,000.
Recent months have represented a huge increase from the £218,946,775 awarded in December, following the boost in NS&I interest rates that came in January.
How to buy Premium Bonds
You can buy Premium Bonds for yourself or for a child under 16 online here, or you can call NS&I free on 08085 007 007, from 7.00am to 10.00pm every day. You’ll need to have your debit card details ready.
Alternatively, you can apply by post at NS&I, Sunderland SR43 2SB, using an application form that you can find and print here.
Each Bond is £1, but…
I'm a graduate of Biochemistry from University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I completed mysecondary education at Living Word Academy Secondary, Nkwere at Imo State. I love reading books, programming, good music, movies and tv shows.
