Premium Bonds. No wins.

For info from my previous post. Another win £25 today.

Every month now for 18 months. 3% interest so far.

Well, I have held several thousands for 53 years and never won a penny!

The pigeons are getting rather romantic kissngate - a good name!

For info daughter won another 25 this month on 3k. At this rate she is likely to get a 10% return from 12 draws.

Greeneyedgirl - definitely partisan last year, choosing new chums and rewarding them very well. I'm hoping he will take pity on me and reward my new numbers in the draw from March with a nice big bonus.

As for my name I was sat there wondering what handle to give myself while watching two wood pigeons cuddle up and kiss on our side gate and I had my name.

I've had mine since 2003 and have never won a penny. In fact after watching The Money Show last night I decided to cash them in and have a good holiday.
I'm really cross that I invested them in the first place. If I'd put the money in even a low interest account they would have made something by now. A salutary lesson to me for future savings!

Is Ernie 5 partisan do you think kissngate? Does he only dole out to chums or how does it work, or do the mean NS keep some for themselves?
I think as interest rate goes down prizes diminish accordingly, soon there'll be hardly anything.
Love your name btw.

Checked my winnings online on 12k in 4 yrs from January 15 to January 19 and it was 2.5% pa. In 2019 it was 0.2 %, not sure it was a coincidence that Ernie5 started generating the numbers in February and my numbers only came out once all last year.

I have had the max amount for 18 months. Bought them in two big amounts.

Won every month. Total amount won = 2.5% interest on the £50,000.

I can't afford to lock that amount away for fixed terms and need flexibility to access the amount when I need it, Have done this four times.

Research told me not to buy in tiny amounts., Big amounts stand a much better chance. Most I've won is £125 - 3 times now.

My 2 daughters have the full whack and usually win about £50 every month on average. I have about £20,500 and win £25 about 9-10 times a year. My ISA was only offering 1/2% interest so I spent it on a car and the house.

If you look on the N&SI website it details how many premium bonds the winners of the big amounts have and what size of bundle of bonds the winning number came from and how long they have been held. I like to see it when someone, who only has a few hundreds worth, wins the million; it does happen.

Just checked my prize history, in the last 5 years there has only been 6 months that I have not won, most was £100.Mostly £25.

I used to think it was totally random until daughter bought her 3k bond in April. Shes had 7 wins on 8 draws so a return of just under 6% with four more draws before year end. I'm not convinced Ernie5 is that random.

I get about 1.5% also.
I agree Momb, they are easy to cash, and you are not tied into keeping them for any length of time.
I don't find ISAs are worthwhile these days because interest is so low, unless you invest long term, which ain't worthwhile at my age.
I enjoy the excited anticipation at the beginning of each month (I live a sheltered life ).

WE have the maximum and very seldom get anything. MIL has £10000 and wins most months but only £25. I’m hoping Ernie is saving ours for a large amount!

I like PBs because you can cash them in quickly and have the money in your bank account within 5 days.

I worked out our winnings were 1.5 % too

Like others have said, frequency of winning generally depends on how many bonds you've got.
When I have checked winners on their website I have never seen anyone with just a £1 bond winning any big amounts. They show how many bonds winners hold and how long they have had them.

I won 2 x £25 this month. Like some of the others, I worked out my winnings over a year and it came to about 1.5%. This is not taxable so that's another bonus. I'm not much of a gambler but I am happy with my bonds.

Just won another £25. That is £50 in three years on a £1000 bond. Just luck of the drawer? Or is it?

Only £25 in January, but since I first bought Premium Bonds, 18 months ago I think I have had £1800 back. The bank have just emailed to say they are reducing (further) the interest on my savings account so I think that will soon be converted to more PB’s (apart from a bit of “rainy day” money)

Never won a sausage. I don't recall how many bonds I've got, (not a huge amount) there must be some paperwork somewhere. I'll have to hunt for it and write to them to either put more in (a waste of time?) or cash in, more likely.
It's a waste of time phoning them as they won't tell you due to confidentiality. I've always found them to be a complete and utter waste of time.

I win every month - only £25 recently though.

I invested around 12k in premium bonds late 2014. I won between 100 -200 every year until 2019 when Ernie4 was upgraded to Ernie5 in March. Instead of the original random number allocation based on radio waves it is now generated by a computer made by a swiss company. I won 25 last June and nothing since. This month I cashed in the bonds and bought again in the hope that my new numbers will come out. My dd bought a 3k bond in April and she has had 7 x 25 wins since then!

I think there must have been a misprint either about the amount or the duration.

Yes I had forgotten that the fifty thousand max was only introduced fairly recently.

I am puzzled how Granny piper has had £50,000 of Premium Bonds for a decade because 10 years ago the maximum was £30,000. It rose to £40,000 then £50,000 in 2015/2016.
And to have never won a prize? - Well I'd cash them in straight away!!