Luck be a lady for August’s Premium Bonds jackpot winners
The women, from Bristol and Leicestershire, become the 367th and 368th winners of the £1 million jackpot since it was launched in 1994.
Leicestershire’s winner is the fourth from the county in the past two years, and the eighth overall, with Agent Million’s most recent trip there in March 2016.
Agent Million has also made eight trips to Bristol. The last visit there was in November 2016, when ERNIE celebrated making the 350th Premium Bonds millionaire.
The Bristol-based winner bought her winning Bond in February 2010 (winning Bond number: 164QV715020) as part of a £5,000 purchase and a £30,925 total holding.
The winner from Leicestershire also bought her lucky Bond as part of a £5,000 purchase (winning Bond number: 87DH369559), but did so at the start of the millennium in January 2000. She has the current maximum holding of £50,000 invested in Premium Bonds.
Jill Waters, Retail Director at NS&I, said:
“What fantastic news for the two women who have won the jackpot this month.
“Agent Million visits Bristol for the second time within a year having delivered ERNIE’s 350th jackpot win in November 2016, while the trip to Leicestershire is slightly more familiar territory after three Premium Bonds millionaires were made there last year.
“Although the Leicestershire winner’s Bonds might not be considered ‘old’ given that they were bought in 2000, she has actually held them for nearly a third of the time that Premium Bonds have been on sale, showing that every individual Bond has the same chance of winning in the monthly draw as any other.”
The old ones are the best
Since the first Premium Bonds millionaire won in April 1994, only five previous jackpot winners have held their winning Bond for longer than this month’s winner from Leicestershire, and one other had held their winning Bond for the same length of time.
The longest-held jackpot-winning Premium Bonds:
| Full calendar months held | Month won | Date purchased | Value of winning Bond | Region of winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 544 | July 2004 | February 1959 | £3 | London Borough of Newham |
| 284 | April 2013 | August 1989 | £100 | London |
| 264 | January 2010 | December 1987 | £500 | Outer London |
| 240 | November 2016 | October 1996 | £5,000 | City of Bristol |
| 232 | January 2001 | August 1982 | £1,000 | Carmarthenshire |
| 210 | August 2017 | January 2000 | £5,000 | Leicestershire |
| 210 | August 2008 | January 1991 | £1,000 | Dorset |
And since the first Premium Bonds draw in 1957, there have been more than 376 million prizes paid out, totalling £17.6 billion.
Of these, over 1.3 million Premium Bond prizes remain unclaimed, worth more than £56 million.
Jill Waters continued:
“We know that sometimes it’s easy to lose track of paperwork or lose touch with your investments if you’ve not interacted with them for a while.
“However, with this month’s millionaire having won after holding her Bonds for so long, there’s every reason to go online and discover if you are owed one of the unclaimed prizes.”
In Bristol, there are 14 prizes worth £1,000 yet to be claimed, with a total of 15,611 prizes worth £601,200 still to be paid out. Five of the top10 oldest unclaimed prizes in the region were won in the month of August, the oldest being from August 1964.
In Leicestershire, £574,400 is waiting to be claimed from 15,381 prizes. There are six prizes worth £1,000, while the oldest also dates back to August 1964 – a £25 win for the lucky Bond holder.
Go online: quicker, easier, more interest
In another similarity between the two regions, each has just over 20,000 customers registered to receive their prizes by BACS, meaning that customers whose Bonds win prizes can have their winnings paid directly into their bank accounts.
As well as being a much quicker way of receiving their money, customers will also reduce the chances of their future prizes going unclaimed. So far, more than 1.4 million people have registered to receive their prizes by BACS.
Customers can register to manage their Premium Bonds alongside other NS&I products at www.nsandi.com.
To find out if you’re a winner this month, or to see your historic Premium Bonds wins, download the free Prize Checker app from the App Store or from Google Play.
In August, there were a total of 2,327,895 prizes worth £66,926,950 paid out to Premium Bonds customers. There were a total of 69,836,829,359 eligible Bonds for this month’s draw.
Prize and value breakdown in August 2017
| Value of prizes | Number of prizes |
|---|---|
| £1,000,000 | 2 |
| £100,000 | 3 |
| £50,000 | 5 |
| £25,000 | 10 |
| £10,000 | 28 |
| £5,000 | 53 |
| £1,000 | 1,339 |
| £500 | 4,017 |
| £100 | 21,735 |
| £50 | 21,735 |
| £25 | 2,278,968 |
| Total prize fund value £66,926,950 |
Total number of prizes 2,327,895 |
Notes to Editors
- NS&I has a wealth of facts and figures (including regional) about Premium Bonds. If you require any further details, please contact the NS&I media team or tweet your question to @nsandi
- You can read more about Premium Bond prize winners at www.nsandi.com/winning-stories
- All Premium Bond prizes are free of UK Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax.
- NS&I is one of the largest savings organisations in the UK, offering a range of savings and investments to 25 million customers. All products offer 100% capital security, because NS&I is backed by HM Treasury.
- The annual Premium Bonds prize fund rate is currently 1.15% and the odds of each individual Bond number winning any prize are 30,000 to 1.
- Pictures of Premium Bonds, including the Premium Bonds app and ERNIE are available in high-resolution jpeg format from the NS&I media team.
- Customers can buy Premium Bonds online at nsandi.com and over the phone by calling 08085 007 007. This is a new freephone number and calls to it from the UK are free from both landlines and mobiles. Telephone calls may be recorded.
- When reporting total unclaimed assets held by NS&I (including accounts, Certificates, Bonds, unclaimed Premium Bond prizes and other products), NS&I defines unclaimed holdings as those with no customer contact for a period of 15 years or more.
- Further information on NS&I (National Savings and Investments), including press releases and product information, is available on the website at nsandi.com. Follow us on Twitter: @nsandior join the conversation on Facebook: Premium Bonds made by ERNIE