Over £41 million of Premium Bonds prizes remain unclaimed across the UK

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  London is the area where the largest number of unclaimed prizes remain.
• Customers can use the Premium Bonds prize checker to track unclaimed prizes that can be claimed from as far back as 1957
• Premium Bonds customers can reduce the risk of prizes becoming unclaimed by having their prizes paid directly into their bank accounts once they register for the service.

NS&I are calling for Premium Bonds holders to come forward to claim their prizes, and to sign-up to have their winnings paid directly into their bank accounts to reduce the chances of prizes going unclaimed in future.

Premium Bonds prize warrants can go undelivered and unclaimed as a result of changes in Premium Bonds holders’ addresses, or if Bonds were bought for them as a child and they have subsequently lost track of them. For customers to avoid missing out it’s important for them to keep NS&I up to date of any change in contact details.

Nationwide, there are over 928,000 unclaimed Premium Bond prizes worth over £41 million owing to Premium Bond holders. There is a woman from London who is still due to receive £100,000 after failing to claim her prize in a previous draw. She has £25 invested in Premium Bonds and the prize was won in February 2007. In addition there is also a woman in Greater Manchester who is also still to receive £100,000 after she too failed to claim her prize. She has £280 invested in Premium Bonds and her prize was won in September 2010.

London is the place where the most unclaimed prizes still remain. Over 200,000 prizes worth more than £9 million have gone unclaimed.

There are a number of other unclaimed prizes due to the residents within the UK, the oldest of these outstanding prizes having been drawn in November 1957 – the year of the very first Premium Bonds prize draw.

Almost a third of the UK population have invested over £51 billion in Premium Bonds, and every eligible Bond is entered into the monthly prize draw. Investors forgo interest to have the chance to win tax-free prizes.

Every month almost 2 million prizes are distributed, either by warrant (like a cheque) or paid directly into holders bank accounts. The latter service was introduced fairly recently and NS&I are encouraging Premium Bonds holders to reduce the chances of their prizes becoming unclaimed by opting to have any prizes paid directly into their bank. To sign up holders should visit: http://www.nsandi.com/register-our-online-service.

The top five unclaimed prizes in the UK

The five oldest unclaimed prizes in the UK

Jill Waters, NS&I’s Assistant Director, Retail Experience, said:

“It is likely that the two winners of the unclaimed £100,000 prizes are unaware or have forgotten that they have Premium Bonds – the lucky winners have just £25 and £280 respectively invested. Prizes often become unclaimed as a result of people moving house, or forgetting that Bonds have been bought for them as a child, or executors are unaware the Bonds are held when someone dies.”

“By opting to manage your Premium Bonds online you could reduce the risk of missing out on prizes as they can be paid directly into your bank account.”

There is no time limit for claiming prizes. Premium Bonds investors can check to see if they have won by visiting nsandi.com and using the Premium Bonds prize checker on the homepage.

Ways for customers to check if they have a prize owing to them

Online at nsandi.com
The Premium Bonds prize checker is on the home page of the NS&I website at nsandi.com – customers simply need to enter their Premium Bonds holder’s number into the search facility.

In writing to NS&I
Alternatively people can write to NS&I, quoting their name and address, any former names and addresses, date of birth and, if known, their Premium Bonds holder’s number.
Premium Bonds
National Savings and Investments
Glasgow
G58 1SB
UK

Premium Bonds facts

• Since the first Premium Bonds prize draw in 1957, more than 304 million tax–free prizes worth approximately £15.4 billion have been paid out.
• Premium Bonds are an investment where, instead of interest payments, investors have the chance to win tax-free prizes. They were officially launched by Harold Macmillan, Chancellor of the Exchequer, in his 1956 Budget.
• Premium Bonds offer investors 100% capital security, backed by HM Treasury, as well as the sense of fun that comes from potentially winning tax-free prizes.
• For the November 2014 draw, ERNIE paid out almost 2 million prizes, together amounting to almost £58 million in value. There were 51,412,662,885 eligible Bond numbers in the draw.
• The Premium Bonds prize fund rate is 1.35% and the odds of each individual Bond number winning a prize are 26,000 to 1.

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Notes to Editors

1. For data protection reasons the regions identified are where there are over 100,000 Premium Bonds customers, this is to protect the winners’ anonymity.
2. The locations listed for unclaimed prizes are those of the winners at the time of their Premium Bonds being drawn.
3. The £41 million of unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes refers to UK customers only.
4. Unclaimed Premium Bond prizes are defined as prizes over 18 months that have not been paid out (cashed). Addresses held for customers with unclaimed prizes might not be the current residential address of the customer.
5. Pictures of Premium Bonds are available in high-resolution jpeg format from the NS&I media team.
6. All Premium Bonds prizes are free of UK Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax.
7. Further information on NS&I (National Savings and Investments), including press releases and product information, is available on the website at nsandi.com.
8. NS&I’s YouTube channel, including interviews with Agent Million, can be found at youtube.com/nsandi. Images showing NS&I’s heritage can be discovered on our Flickr page.
9. NS&I has a number of spokespeople available for interviews and our experienced media team is available via our ISDN line: 020 7602 4522.