Information ‘leek’: Wales-based winners of the Premium Bonds jackpot
The country as a whole has been fairly successful, with 17 millionaire winners from the 390 awarded since 1994 –that’s as many as Kent (also on 17) and almost three times as many as Northern Ireland (six). But there’s still some way to go to catch up to the 48 won by people living in London.
Like the Welsh landscape, there have been many hills and valleys, too. In four years (1996, 2008, 2009 and 2015), our Agents Million made a number of visits to various parts of Wales, but in 12 of the past 24 years Wales has not had a jackpot winner meaning that Agent Million has not crossed the border from their base in Blackpool.
Of the Wales-based winners, the average holding at the time of winning the jackpot has been £19,165.59, pulled up a little by the latest winner, who held £35,150 when their numbers were generated for July’s prize.
The average length of time between purchase of the winning Bond and the numbers coming up for winners of the biggest prize in Wales is nearly seven years.
Other big wins for Wales
Despite being renowned for wet weather in the country, this summer has been among the driest on record. Yet when it comes to Premium Bonds prizes, they’ve been raining down on Wales all year.
In July alone, there were 78 prizes worth £1,000 or more, including the £1 million jackpot, for people whose Premium Bonds accounts were registered to addresses in Wales.
Among these was someone in Cardiff, whose £5 investment in January 1972 – part of an overall holding of £47 –pocketed them £1,000 this month.
Two other big prize winners had their numbers come good on the back of a previous win, having chosen to have their prizes reinvested.
| Prize value | Winning Bond number | Total value of holding | Area | Value of Bond | Date of purchase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £1,000 | 4FB795490 | £47 | Cardiff | £5 | Jan-72 |
| £1,000 | 259PB854395 | £35,225 | Wales | £25 | Nov-15 |
| £1,000 | 310JM616729 | £15,700 | Wales | £25 | Sep-17 |
To date, there have been 555 prizes worth £1,000 or more for people in Wales in 2018, compared to 439 paid out between January-July 2017 – an increase of more than 26%.
Register online to make sure there’s no delay in receiving your prizes
No matter whether you were a big winner in July’s draw or whether there’s a £25 prize from ERNIE on its way in the future, by registering online, Premium Bonds holders’ can ensure that the money appears in their bank account more quickly than waiting for a warrant in the post.
By doing so, you can also greatly reduce your chances of a prize going unclaimed – where the warrant has not been paid into the winner’s bank account within 18 months of the draw in which the prize was won.
Sign up to have prizes paid directly to your bank account
The quick and simple process can be done in a matter of minutes on nsandi.com, while you can also download our free prize checker app to see if you’re due any prizes now or when the next results are announced in August.
