How to check for Premium Bonds prizes
NS&I’s Premium Bonds prize draw makes two people millionaires overnight every month. We explain how to check to see if you’ve won any cash
Premium Bonds are one of the nation’s most popular savings products, with Brits holding billions of pounds in them.
They differ from usual savings products, like easy-access accounts or fixed rate accounts, as Premium Bonds do not pay a guaranteed interest rate.
Try 6 free issues of MoneyWeek today
Get unparalleled financial insight, analysis and expert opinion you can profit from.
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
The total amount handed out in the May 2026 prize draw was over £376 million, distributed through more than 5.9 million tax-free prizes.
If you are lucky enough to win one of the two £1 million jackpots, you will be paid a visit by Agent Million, an anonymous NS&I employee who travels up and down the country informing people of their newfound wealth.
How to check for Premium Bonds
NS&I website or app
The easiest way to see if you have won any Premium Bonds prizes is by checking online through NS&I’s prize checker tool, accessible on nsandi.com.
If you use a mobile phone, you can also download NS&I’s official prize checker app, which is available on either Android or iOS.
Both of these methods will show you the prizes on offer that month and any winnings you may have had over the past six draws, as well as any unclaimed prizes.
To find prizes, you will need your Premium Bonds holder’s number to use the website and your NS&I number or holder’s number to check via the prize checker app – it will either have nine or 10 digits, or eight digits followed by a letter.
If you don’t have your Premium Bonds number to hand, don’t worry. You can use your NS&I number on the app to check for prizes – it is 11 digits long and starts with an 11, 21, 31 or 41.
Use your Amazon Alexa
You can also use your Alexa-enabled device to check if you’ve won, so long as you have a supported device and have successfully set it up.
Once given the command, Alexa will be able to tell you whether you have won a prize and how much it's worth, as well as details for any upcoming draws.
To get it set up, you’ll need to activate the NS&I Premium Bonds prize checker skill on your Alexa app and enter your NS&I number. After that, you can use your smart speaker to stay updated on prize winners.
How to check for unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes from years ago
Premium Bonds prizes do not expire, meaning that if you held money in Premium Bonds for a while, you may find that you have won some prizes without realising.
You can find out if you have unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes from years ago waiting for you by using NS&I’s website, app or Alexa to check for prizes.
But there are some other ways of finding out whether you have any cash waiting to be claimed.
If you’re registered for online or phone services, you can call NS&I for free on 08085 007 007.
If you aren’t registered, you can write to NS&I and ask if you have any unclaimed prizes. To help them track any potential prizes down for you, your letter must include:
- Premium Bonds holder's number
- Your current name
- Any previous names
- Your current address
- Any previous addresses where Bonds may have been registered
- Your signature
Send your letter to: NS&I, Sunderland SR43 2SB.
Any prizes will then be sent to your home address. They cannot be sent directly to your bank account.
How are Premium Bonds prizes paid out?
Your prizes will be paid according to the preference you opted for when you created your account.
For example, those who have opted for automatic payments will get their cash prizes paid into their nominated bank account. Alternatively, you might have set your winnings to be reinvested into Premium Bonds.
NS&I says more than nine in 10 prizes are paid directly into winners’ bank accounts or automatically reinvested into more Premium Bonds.
If you haven’t opted for either, you will receive a cheque – so it’s worth checking your address is updated. You can change your payment method on the NS&I website if you wish.
How many lost Premium Bonds prizes are there?
While NS&I has successfully paid out over 99% of all Premium Bonds prizes to winners since 1957, there are still millions of bonds that remain unclaimed.
As of May 2026, there are 2,776,230 unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes worth £119,942,450.
Unclaimed Premium Bonds will never expire so if you think you might have some, they are well worth tracking down.
It is also worth doing this sooner rather than later as your winnings do not earn an interest rate while left unclaimed, meaning their value will be slowly eroded by inflation.
How to find lost Premium Bonds
You can check for lost Premium Bonds by going to NS&I’s website and finding the ‘Form to track down lost savings’. It will be included on this page: nsandi.com/forms.
Customers can complete the form online or they can download it and print out a physical copy to complete by hand.
If doing the latter, send your completed form to: Tracing service, NS&I, Sunderland SR43 2SB
Once completed, NS&I will be in contact and tell you whether you have any lost Premium Bonds.
Alternatively, you can use mylostaccount.org.uk. This is a free service from UK Finance and the Building Societies Association that helps you track down lost accounts or savings. The service is not only for NS&I products, so it may be worth a visit if you have other lost accounts.
If you’re trying to track down Premium Bonds on behalf of someone else, then make sure you are legally entitled to act on their behalf, for example under a Power of Attorney or as an Executor. NS&I suggests calling them for advice on how to trace someone else’s accounts or investments.
Premium Bonds can be owned by people who live abroad so it is still worth checking whether you have any unclaimed prizes or lost Premium Bonds even if you have left the UK.
If you need more help or guidance, NS&I has a helpful list of contacts who may be able to steer you in the right direction.
You can rest assured that your Premium Bonds are safe with NS&I as the money is 100% backed by the Treasury.
How to avoid losing your Premium Bonds prizes
NS&I notifies Premium Bonds prize winners via their chosen communication method, such as email or text, if they have registered their contact details.
However, prizes can end up unclaimed if someone relocates or changes contact or bank details and forgets to update NS&I with the new details.
NS&I says the best way to avoid prizes going unclaimed is to choose for them to be paid directly into your bank account or automatically reinvested into Premium Bonds.
You can reinvest Premium Bonds up to the £50,000 holding limit, and automatically reinvested prizes are immediately eligible for the next draw.
