Agent Million travels to the opposite ends of the country to make Premium Bonds millionaires in Cumbria and Dorset
In ERNIE’s 61st year of drawing Premium Bond prizes, two lucky Bond holders from Cumbria and Dorset have won the £1 million jackpot in July’s draw.
The 365th millionaire is a woman from Cumbria, who is the sixth winner of the £1 million prize from the county and the first since December 2015. The winning number (Bond number: 200CF877271) was part of a purchase of £30,000 in December 2012, which makes up the winner’s entire holding.
The 366th winner is a man from Dorset, with lucky number 262CH557538 striking gold. His £20,000 purchase in December 2015 was part of a total Premium Bonds holding of £40,633.
It’s the seventh time that Agent Million has visited the county, having most recently visited there just under two years ago, in August 2015.
Last month, NS&I celebrated 60 years of making people smile following the anniversary of the first Premium Bonds prize draw on 1 June 1957. The winning numbers are now generated by the fourth incarnation of the ERNIE, the Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment.
The first draw took 55 hours to complete, generating 60,000 numbers for 23,142 prizes. This month, ERNIE 4 drew out over two million winning numbers in a fraction of that time.
Added to the other prizes in July’s draw, Premium Bonds have now paid out over £17.5 billion, with ERNIE generating 373 million winning numbers.
| Machine | Dates active | Prizes generated | Value of prizes | Top prize when launched | Time taken to complete its final draw | Numbers per hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ERNIE 1 | Jun 57 - Jan 73 | 8,067,575 | £303,779,900 | £1,000 | 10 days | 2,000 |
| ERNIE 2 | Feb 73 - Aug 88 | 22,740,704 | £1,494,420,100 | £50,000 | 5.5 hours | 65,000 |
| ERNIE 3 | Sep 88 - Mar 04 | 77,885,566 | £5,113,645,250 | £250,000 | 5.5 hours | 330,000 |
| ERNIE 4 | Apr 04 - present | 266,427,951 | £10,613,535,250 | £1,000,000 | 5 hours* | 1,000,000 |
*current speed
Alun Williams, Assistant Director, Marketing & Communications at NS&I, said:
“Agent Million has now shared the life-changing news with a new millionaire for every day of the year, thanks to ERNIE’s random numbers.
“The first ever winning number generated by the original ERNIE was for a Bond held by a person also from Cumbria, with the lucky jackpot winner receiving a cheque for £1,000. It took 16 minutes for that first winning number to be created.
“ERNIE 4 draws 1,000,000 numbers every hour. This July more than 1,400 individual Bonds won prizes of £1,000 or more, including the two £1 million jackpot winners.”
Each individual Premium Bond has the same chance of winning any prize, and over the last couple of months customers with relatively low overall holdings have won the top prize.
A man with a £3,100 holding in Cheshire East won one of the two jackpot prizes in May, and a woman from Surrey became a Premium Bonds millionaire with just a £2,000 holding won last month.
With over two million prizes distributed each month, it is not just the top prize that is up for grabs. In May, a £1 Premium Bond purchased in Northamptonshire in 1964 won £10,000.
Are you owed a prize?
Bond holders are encouraged by NS&I to register to manage their account online via www.nsandi.com and to ensure that their contact details are correct.
Over the past 60 years, a number of prizes have gone unclaimed, standing at more than 1.3 million, totalling over £55 million, including 1,155 prizes from the 1950s and 1960s, worth more than £32,000.
Unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes are those that have not been claimed for 18 months after the prize draw in which they were won.
Among the unclaimed prizes are 15,949 from Dorset, which add up to over £617,000. The oldest dates back to February 1964 – a prize worth £25 – while there are 37 prizes worth £500 still waiting to be paid to their lucky owners.
In Cumbria, £321,925 remains unclaimed from 8,450 prizes. The oldest is a £25 prize from January 1969, and there are 11 outstanding prizes worth £1,000.
Alun Williams continued:
“By updating your details and registering to receive future prizes directly into your bank account, you will receive your winnings quicker, and customers can ensure that prizes will no longer risk going unclaimed.
“Nearly one and a half million people have already signed up to receive their prizes in this way, including more than 10,000 from Cumbria and over 27,000 from Dorset.”
In numbers: July 2017 Premium Bonds draw
2,314,901 prize-winning numbers were generated this month, worth £66,553,425, and there were 69,447,044,453 eligible Bond numbers in July’s draw.
Prize and value breakdown in July 2017
| Value of prize | Number of prizes |
|---|---|
| £1,000,000 | 2 |
| £100,000 | 3 |
| £50,000 | 5 |
| £25,000 | 10 |
| £10,000 | 26 |
| £5,000 | 54 |
| £1,000 | 1,330 |
| £500 | 3,990 |
| £100 | 21,614 |
| £50 | 21,614 |
| £25 | 2,266,253 |
|
Total prize fund value £66,553,425 |
Total number of prizes 2,314,901 |
Premium Bonds holders can see if they have won a prize via the prize checker on nsandi.com, by registering on the website and checking their prize history in the Premium Bonds account page, or by downloading the free Prize Checker app to see if they’re a winner this month or have any unclaimed prizes.
As Premium Bonds has now celebrated 60 years at the heart of British savings, we want to hear your stories, whether it be the memories of buying your first Bonds or prizes won, no matter how big or small. Join the conversation on our Facebook page, on Twitter, or submit your story at http://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/PB60th
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: @nsandi or join the conversation on Facebook: Premium Bonds made by ERNIE