This article details 2022 winners - see our article on the December 2023 bond winners for the latest.
NS&I (National Savings & Investments) has announced the winners from the December prize draw, which includes two jackpot winners.
The NS&I Premium Bond jackpot winners come from Wandsworth and the Scottish Highlands – if you live there and hold Premium Bonds, you could be in for an early Christmas treat.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
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 first winning bond number is 414XW486235 and belongs to someone in the Scottish Highlands. The winner holds £45,000 in Premium Bonds and purchased the winning bond in September 2020.
The second winning bond number is 150FZ477948 and belongs to someone in Wandsworth. The winner holds £29,042 in Premium Bonds and purchased the winning bond in August 2009.
The two jackpot winners will have been visited by NS&I’s “Agent Million”, who gave the news about the win in person.
If you didn’t win the jackpot, then you could still be a winner of some sort with a total of 4.9 million prizes being released this month, ranging from as little as £25 to as much as £100,000. The total value of the December Premium Bond prizes was £219m. You can check if you are a winner from 2 December - we explain below how to check.
The number of prizes given out each month was raised in October, meaning that the odds of winning has improved to 24,000 to one. Earlier this year, NS&I also increased the interest rate on its savings products to entice more savers in.
December NS&I Premium Bond winners: the breakdown of the prizes
Here are the prizes picked by the NS&I’s Ernie – the machine that generates the winning numbers.
| Value of prize | Number of prizes |
| £1,000,000 | 2 |
| £100,000 | 18 |
| £50,000 | 36 |
| £25,000 | 71 |
| £10,000 | 178 |
| £5,000 | 359 |
| £1,000 | 4,379 |
| £500 | 13,137 |
| £100 | 731,225 |
| £50 | 731,225 |
| £25 | 3,496,500 |
Around £80m in Premium Bond prizes are currently sitting unclaimed, so it is worth checking if you are a winner – not just for the December draw but also for any previous months or years. See our article on the November Premium Bond prize draw.
How to check if you are a Premium Bond winner
It’s easy to check if you are a NS&I Premium Bond winner. December winners can check on 2 December. Here are all the ways to check:
- Use the prize checker feature on the NS&I website
- Download NS&I’s prize checker app onto your smartphone
- Ask Alexa. You can even state your NS&I number to a device that has Amazon’s Alexa service enabled, and check if you’re a lucky winner.
- If you have registered online with NS&I then you will be sent an email – so check your inbox/spam folder. However, if you haven’t done so then you’ll instead be sent a letter.
Make sure NS&I has the correct contact details – not updating your details could result in you missing out on any notifications and unclaimed prizes.
Premium Bonds vs savings accounts
The return you get from Premium Bonds will come down to how lucky you are. The NS&I says there’s a one in 24,000 chance of one bond winning a prize a month. Essentially, the more you hold and the greater the value, the higher your chance of winning, but calculating the real probability of you winning a decent prize is complicated.
If you’re looking for a more reliable return on your money, you might want instead to use a traditional savings account, with some banks offering as much as 5% interest.
-
Pension warning: one in five don’t know how much is going into their pensionHow to check your pension contributions and why it matters
-
50,000 power of attorney applications rejected – how to avoid common mistakesA freedom of information request shows that thousands of lasting power of attorney (LPA) applications are rejected due to errors. We explain how to avoid mistakes and reveal tips to make the process as straightforward as possible
-
Act now to bag NatWest-owned Ulster Bank's 5.2% easy access savings accountUlster Bank is offering savers the chance to earn 5.2% on their cash savings, but you need to act fast as easy access rates are falling. We have all the details
-
Moneybox raises market-leading cash ISA to 5%Savings and investing app MoneyBox has boosted the rate on its cash ISA again, hiking it from 4.75% to 5% making it one of top rates. We have all the details.
-
October NS&I Premium Bonds winners - check now to see what you wonNS&I Premium Bonds holders can check now to see if they have won a prize this month. We explain how to check your premium bonds
-
Bank of Baroda closes doors to UK retail bankingAfter almost 70 years of operating in the UK, one of India’s largest bank is shutting up shop in the UK retail banking market. We explain everything you need to know if you have savings or a current account with Bank of Baroda
-
How to earn cashback on spendingFrom credit cards and current accounts to cashback websites, there are plenty of ways to earn cashback on the money you spend
-
John Lewis mulls buy now, pay later schemeThe CEO of John Lewis has said the retailer will consider introducing buy now, pay later initiatives for lower-priced items.
-
State pension triple lock at risk as cost balloonsThe cost of the state pension triple lock could be far higher than expected due to record wage growth. Will the government keep the policy in place in 2024?
-
Paragon raises rate on one-year fixed cash ISA to 5.75%Paragon Bank ups its one-year fixed cash ISA rate to 5.75% - is it enough to top the table?
