Millions of unclaimed Premium Bond prizes. Could some be yours?
More than £84 million sits in unclaimed Premium Bond prizes. Could some of this money be yours? Here's how to find out.
Over two million Premium Bond prizes worth over £84 million are sitting unclaimed, MoneyWeek can reveal. The top unclaimed prize is £100,000 – could you be holding the winning bond?
NS&I announces new winners each month, with prizes from £25 to £100,000 – plus two lucky people win a million-pound jackpot. Although the prize fund rate recently dropped to 4.4%, the odds of winning with premium bonds are still 21,000 to 1 for every bond.
The Premium Bonds jackpot prize winners are notified by Agent Million. Other winners are told via post or email – meaning if you haven't updated your contact details you might not know you've won a prize. You will only be informed of any winnings if your account information is up-to-date. If not, you could be one of the millions sitting on an unclaimed Premium Bond prize worth up to £100,000.
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How many unclaimed Premium Bonds are there?
According to the latest stats provided to MoneyWeek by NS&I, there are 2,410,630 unclaimed Premium Bond prizes worth £84,085,800 as of May 2024. Four unclaimed prizes are worth a whopping £100,000. Here’s where the unclaimed prizes are from and when the Premium Bonds were drawn:
Location | Draw date | Bond number |
---|---|---|
Hereford And Worcester | August 2014 | 005FZ109702 |
Ealing | February 2007 | 008LK522839 |
Stockport | September 2010 | 050PB780494 |
Cheshire East | February 2022 | 255QP699407 |
There are 63,780 unclaimed prizes worth £2,104,350 in Hampshire, one of the winning regions in May's prize draw. In the other winning region, Outer London, there are 222,004 unclaimed prizes worth £7,746,975.
If you think you might have some Premium Bonds but don't know the numbers or whether you have any winnings, read more on how to check for premium bonds and unclaimed prizes.
3 ways to check for unclaimed premium bonds
1. Prize Checker website and app
The quickest, easiest option for tracking down potential premium bond winnings is to use the prize checker on the NS&I website or download the official prize checker app (available for Android and iOS). If checking via the website, you will need your Premium Bond holder number. If using the app, you will need your NS&I number, which is 11 digits.
Using either of these methods will show you your winnings from the last six draws and highlight any unclaimed prizes if you have them.
2. Call NS&I
If you prefer to pick up the phone, you can call NS&I for free on 08085 007 007. But, they will only have you on record if you are registered for phone or online banking.
3. Write to NS&I
You can also write to NS&I to check for any unclaimed prizes. If you choose this method, you should include the following details in your letter:
- Current name
- Current address
- Premium Bond holder number
- All previous addresses where you might have registered bonds
- Your signature
You can send your letter to: NS&I, Sunderland SR43 2SB. Any prizes you claim will be sent to your home address.
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Vaishali has a background in personal finance and a passion for helping people manage their finances. As a staff writer for MoneyWeek, Vaishali covers the latest news, trends and insights on property, savings and ISAs.
She also has bylines for the U.S. personal finance site Kiplinger.com and Ideal Home, GoodTo, inews, The Week and the Leicester Mercury.
Before joining MoneyWeek, Vaishali worked in marketing and copywriting for small businesses. Away from her desk, Vaishali likes to travel, socialise and cook homely favourites
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