Premium bonds

How lucky you all are! Admittedly we only have a few hundred between us but we have never won anything. I can understand that bigger holdings will give you more chances, but can't think that buying more nudges Ernie. Surely every bond has an equal chance if it is random.

Perhaps now I have posted this, I'll be lucky! Fat chance!

I have a few more nowadays, but when I only had a hundred bonds, I won £100 (about 20 years ago!!).
Now I have a few more I only seem to win £25 every few months.

Live in hope

Well, I've got £25 this month - hardly life-changing but every little helps! I check the whole family's numbers online as soon as it goes live. What I really would love is for one of my DC's to come up with a big prize, so that I could nudge them to check themselves. They never do because they don't think they'll win, and so far, they've been right!

We put in a large chunk from DH's inheritance and another chunk from mine and have added small amounts since. We were near the max before they increased it. (We had intended to invest our nest egg somewhere - but haven't know where - quite glad about that now!).

We have found that all our winnings come from large block numbers so periodically cash in the small amounts and reinvest in a block. We have at least one small win a month which equates to between 1.5 - 2% return - when I take my winnings into the bank to cash the cashiers get decidedly huffy as they can't match the return!

The advantage is that the money is accessible and there is always that chance...... !!!!

I have won £25, so excited, at least I know my numbers are in the draw!!

Perhaps I can take myself out to dinner.

Well, I've just checked the location of October's big winners online (ever hopeful), and am even more miffed with Uncle Ernest and his big tombola drum. Of the 98, just four are from Scotland, two from Northern Ireland, all the other lucky so and sos live in Lancashire and all points South. Tumbleweed is blowing desolately across the North of England.

www.nsandi.com/prize-checker

I did get £25 last month though

And I can't see any winning bonds bought before 1993. Age discrimination! I've got some from 1956 that have never won a penny. I bet that six quid was worth something back in the day.

When my ancient Uncle died, I discovered that he had a £100 Premium Bond so I went through the whole palaver of form filling and eventually got a cheque for £100. Imagine my surprise when a few months later I received another cheque for £100 - apparently his bonds had twice won a £50 prize.

As for me - I won £25 within a month when I first bought a block 20 years ago. Not a penny piece since.

I was just waiting for the knock on the door and someone presenting me with a million.
Oh dear, shattered my dreams Maggiemaybe!

I did win £25 recently though (don't spend it all at once)

Granny23 Apparently, after someone dies, the bonds go into the draw every month and prizes are paid out for the first twelve months afterwards, but then are ineligible for any prize.

I wish Ernie would just explain exactly how he flipping well works, for years I thought the draw took place on the 1st of every month (it doesn't). I could never understand how Mr Million called at someones house to tell them of their win on the 1st (he doesn't). I don't understand how your bond number is 'drawn' as it contains letters and numbers and are differing lengths, it isn't a number drawn, it is done by noise generating. A simple question I still cant get answered is: you buy a bond, it goes into the next draw after a complete calendar month, eg. Buy in September it goes into Novembers draw, BUT Novembers draw takes place in October!!, so will my September purchase be in that draw or not??? Before you jump on my facts, please research this a little yourself, I have.

Questions DH and I have asked ourselves too!!
Yes, they must start 'drawing' the numbers for the next month in the previous month; they don't start at midnight plus 1 second on the 1st of the month.
Is it noise generated then? I thought the computer just whizzed through and stopped at certain places.

November's draw takes place in October and I am sure your bond will have gone in, I recollect winning £25 the first month that a new bond I bought was eligible. But - you are not informed until November, so it is in 'November's Draw' even if that draw took place in October iyswim
now?

Don't tell me that no-one calls to bring you a cheque for £1m! What a disappointment, I expected a bouquet as well.

ERNIE's output is independently tested each month by the Government Actuary's Department, and the draw is only valid if it is certified to be statistically consistent with randomness

I think that ERNIE uses thermal noise which is completely random and unpredictable.

That is probably why we had the situation a couple of months ago where two high prizes were seemingly won by people in the same area with similar (but not quite the same) holdings with very similar numbers.
I did wonder if it was husband and wife or partners, lucky things.

I have no idea what noise generated means (please don't anyone try to explain), but I do wish my bonds would shout a bit louder. They most be proper shrinking violets.

Sorry to burst your bubble there, Jalima. I should have started off with a SPOILER ALERT

We can always hope that the balance was restored this month by all the minor prizes coming up North. If I get a shower of £500s and £100s, the virtual drinks are on me.

Please let a few of the £1, 000 prizes drift down to the West .....

all round

How do you know the location of the October winners when they have not yet been announced?

I was wondering that too Luckygirl. I thought that they were announced on the first Thursday of the month.

Whoops! just noticed that it is the second working day of the month.

Yes - we will hear about our windfall on Tuesday I believe.

In the link in Maggiemaybe's post above Luckygirl
They always publish winning numbers, amount, location and holding straight away on the 1st of the month.

My £25 arrived on about the 21st of the month!

Sorry, I should have said winners of the larger prizes are published straight away, the rest are online by about the 3rd or 4th of the month.

It's probably best not to look anyway, and keep hope alive a while longer

I once checked the big winners list when I woke up very early on the first of the month. Shot bolt upright in bed, convinced that one of the really big ones was me, going by the area and holding amount. Charged downstairs heart aflutter to dig out my last statement, to find the winner had about £20 more than me (plus the extra hundred grand now). By the time I found that out I'd already (in my fevered imagination) announced the win to the DC and magnanimously shared it out.

Jalima WHERE are the large prizes published?? I've never found them.

Still hoping

Follow Maggiemaybe's link: www.nsandi.com/prize-checker
and they are published on the NSANDI prize checker page straight away, the smaller prizes come later (or not at all mostly).

You sound like a salesman for the bonds. I know a lady who brought six council houses for members of her family and fell out with two of them who shopped her to inland revenue. The tax office said she had not declared matters to them and she was fined £ 250000. She was not lucky.