Premium Bonds…..why, oh why…

littleflo

If you think you have unclaimed prizes, you should register with NS&I. You will be given a holder number and then you need to register a password. Checking your winnings is really easy once the initial formalities are completed.

If you add an email address, this is how you will be informed of your winnings. You can register your bank account too for your winning to go in by direct credit. Be aware though, that for some odd reason it takes over a week for the winnings to be credited.

If you have an old holder’s number, like I did, but was still on the system even though I no longer had any PBs, you can get a new holder’s number etc. over the phone - at least I did, but I’m still at the same address. I dare say it might be different if you’ve moved.

I wanted to bug them for my (6) DGC for birthdays and Christmas. I only succeeded buying them for one GC. The faff involved was unbelievable. It inconvenienced our DD no end getting paperwork done. I thought having bought one said GC would sort of have “an account” and it would be easier to buy subsequent ones-not a bit of it. So sadly I just couldn’t buy any more for any of them!
Come Premium Bonds wake up and make it easier!! You’re missing a profitable trade!

If you think you have unclaimed prizes, you should register with NS&I. You will be given a holder number and then you need to register a password. Checking your winnings is really easy once the initial formalities are completed.

If you add an email address, this is how you will be informed of your winnings. You can register your bank account too for your winning to go in by direct credit. Be aware though, that for some odd reason it takes over a week for the winnings to be credited.

I don’t lead an exciting life and using the premium bond checker at the beginning of each month is a moment of fun. I get more back than my Isa gave me so have a full complement in premium bonds and feel somewhat aggrieved if I don’t get at least £25 when I check ? but time passes quickly to the next month. I have no hope of winning any money from anywhere else so I enjoy the hope that I will have a big win which I can distribute among my grandchildren.

BTW if you’ve still got the certificate, then however long ago it was issued, they will check for you, whether you’ve moved house 14 times since or not.

I once got them to check for a dd who had £5 worth, given by a grandparent when she was born. Unsurprisingly she had won zilch, but it cost nothing to check.

Thanks, OP - you’ve reminded me to re register, did it over the phone yesterday with no,problem. Still need to set up a DD though.

I tried last year during lockdown - they had me on the system but holder’s number etc. were no longer valid, so I had to send in sundry paperwork, verified by a neighbour, and never heard back. Such a faff for nothing.

There is an app you can download which instantly tells you if you have won but they always email you if you’ve bothered to give them your email. My wins are reinvested straight away so no cheques.

Do they still send cheques out? We used to get any wins by cheque, as I liked getting them in the post, but changed a while ago to have them paid straight into our bank account. We get an e Mail when we win, DH and I have both had one this morning. Doesn’t say how much, expect it’s £25.

Better than nothing, all gratefully received.

shinamae you don’t have to claim them. If you have asked for the winnings to go into your bank account it will, without them telling you.

Why are people checking if they have won? Does the winning cheque not just get sent out to you? Curious

My oldest bonds were £6 worth, bought for me in 1956. When you cash in any bonds NSI cash in the oldest, unless you apply by filling in a longish form and stipulating which ones should go. I held out for many years, but finally got fed up of it and just cashed in the oldest online. I still have the certificates though, even though they’re no longer valid. They never won a thing in 64 years.

My parents brought me a £6 premium bond when I was born in 1958. I have won 2 x £25 . The last time 34 years ago . I was surprised I ever won anything .

We do the post code lottery every so often we win £10. We only pay that in so we are just getting back what we put in. Ha ha

Do you have to check if you win, surely they contact you if they have your correct details??

We received a letter addressed to someone who used to live in this house many years ago. By chance I knew where the person now lives so popped it through the door.

The lady came round to thank me as there was a cheque for £50 in the envelope!

We win some thing most months. Most bonds bought in 90s. Had a couple of bigger ones.£500. Also had an unexpected £25 towards end of month recently and then long after a letter saying that there had been a redraw ref invalid wins (people cashing in)!!??

Never won a penny and have had them all my life!!

Kateykrunch, that is because there are hundreds more £25 prizes . The less the prizes are worth the more of them there are.

at the end of september i increased my holding to the maximum and waited with baited breath till the first eligible draw in november.
with high hopes (and crossed fingers!) i checked the nsi site thinking how my win of thousands could be spent, spend it all on myself or maybe a down payment on a house for my daughter, the possibilities were endless. i entered my details, quickly opened the relevant page and wait for it, 500,000, no chance, but i did get 3 x 25 which is 75 more than catman had and at least it has got me more than i would have had for the year had i left it in my savings account,
hey ho, roll on next month and carry on dreaming in the meantime!!

The reason that the early bonds don’t generally win prizes Is that they are such small amounts. A £1 bond from 1960 is unlikely to win, a lot more bonds have been bought much more recently, during lockdown huge sums of money was invested with some people saving more than almost ever before. Many people have £50,000 in Premium Bonds so they have many, many more chances of a win than someone with only a few. I love the security of Premium Bonds with the chance of a big win however remote. Almost every mont I have a “ win “ sometimes two or three but really it should count as interest.

How do you find out if you have won? I have had a premium bond sice birth ( 64 yrs ago ) £1 was worth a lot more then !!! To my knowledge I have never won anything.

I have had a couple of hundred since they started - never won a thing ????

I also have premium bonds purchased in 1970.
Never one a penny either.

Rumpunch

There are far fewer of the older bonds still in the draw as people cash them in. When you die then your heirs can keep them for a year but then have to cash them in. Loads of the original purchasers will probably have died by now reducing the amount of them in the draw. I still have the £1 bond my Nan bought me in 1958, it was worth far more than £1 today.

thisismoney.co.uk informs me that £1 in 1958 is now worth about £25. I like my old 1956 bond as it's a souvenir of my childhood!

I'm a bit of a nerd in keeping records of my wins! Those over the last 2 years have been, by year purchased, as followed -
1994 (year purchased) - 1
1998 - 1
2000 - 1
2001 - 1
2004 - 3
2005 - 10
2006 - 2
2014 - 4
2015 - 7
2016 - 4

Only one has been £100, the rest all £25. I've got the full £50.000 purchased between 1994 to 2016.

The reason why more recent winners seem to be successful is that they have a larger percentage of bonds held in comparison to those purchased in previous years.

But in the end you only need one bond to win!