Premium bonds

Only £25 for me this month.Luck has a lot to do with winning.A bond holder from Surrey who had purchased a £25 bond in 2023 won £25000 this month.It was the only bond he had.

My Son is a lucky person, he won £5,000 last month

I do well most months and this it was £125. I don't have the full amount, but any winnings are ploughed back in so I can't be far short of the maximum by now.

Stella I'm not sure but I think they have a lot.

I had £40000 in PB - haven’t won a thing in months and months - so, I decided, because it’s a ‘Luck’ thing, I cashed all but £10000 - and gave it to the children- my theory is that I now have the same chance of winning as I did with £40000

Not quite, crazyh. Each bond has the same chance of winning as any other but if someone has £40,000 they have more chances than the person who has £10,000. Like buying raffle tickets.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/premium-bonds/

Try using the MSE probability calculator:

www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/premium-bonds-calculator/

£10,000 with (median) average luck might win £300 over one year.

£40,000 with (median) average luck might win £1,250 over one year.

You can ask the calculator to compare with top savings depending on your tax status.

It also shows how much you need to earn in prizes to keep pace with current inflation rates.

However may bonds you hold, you have to have better than median average luck to outdo savings and inflation.

I bought £10,000 of PBs 18 months ago, to add to the £232 worth I already had.

I think I got a prize 3 months on the trot, then nothing before another prize around about the time I was thinking "Is it worth it?", plus a 5th prize a couple of months ago. Nothing huge, but the total not too far off what I am getting from the building Society on a similar amount.

There was a time, maybe 25 years ago when I was otherwise broke, with two kids to feed, I had to cash in my Premium Bonds - a block of £1000 - and a £1000 prize crossed in the Post! Fantastic. Proof that I could eat the cake and still have it!

From one of the links in Graphite's post:

Inflation - This shows how much you need to earn in prizes to keep pace with current inflation rates
CPI at 3.4%£1,70063.6%
RPI at 4.2%£2,10083.9%

I wonder if there is more chance of winning if the premium bonds are in one block rather than bought in small amounts over the years?

My husband has had PB for 40 years and has never won anything.

£200 this month after a dry spell.

Nothing EVER. Keep trying to cash in, but system not great. Thanks, this has reminded me to call them.

How about a slap up meal with overnight stay - there are bargains out there at around that price (Travelzoo perhaps?)

I win from time to time but this has reminded me I haven't won for a few months now- maybe due something next month?
Come on, Ernie!

I have the full amount and get a win most months . £125 this month. DH cashed his in as he went several months without a win . He put them in a stocks and shares isa

Over a year ago I stupidly withdrew money out of my ISAs 'cos the % was rubbish and put it into PBs. I was averaging £125 a month which was OK but for the past 8 months absolute rubbish. However according to these 'are you lucky sites' I am below average which about sums it up.

I’ve won £100 three months running, which is nice but I’m never notified until the 6th or 7th of the month. I’ve had bonds ever since they started and we used to receive a cheque by post, much closer to the start of the month.

Get the app watermeadow find out on draw day.

One extremely lucky devil whose total Premium Bond holdings is just £17 won the top prize of one million some years back!

I love reading facts and figures about Premium Bonds!

There was an interview in the Mail recently with an anonymous Agent Million ( who visits the top two winners) describing folks different reactions on being told they had won.
One woman apparently said she didn’t want it!

Jaxjacky

Get the app watermeadow find out on draw day.

Are the results available in the actual day?

I check online which is usually two or three days later, depending if it is a weekend or public holiday.

Looks as though N S &I have mismanaged clients’ monies held on account - see today’s news item - speedy action from Torsten Bell unlike the WASPI case 😡

Strange how the failing “date back years” according to the Telegraph but Tories and former Tories notably Mel Stride and Robert Jenrick are up in arms saying Rachel Reeves must explain how this happened.

It seems to include deceased estates and concerns any money held in NS&I not just PBs.

Why are MPs alleging that the taxpayer must pick up the costs? If the “missing” money from deceased estate is in a bank then that’s were it is.

Here is an example this alleged scandal:

archive.is/CP91j

A family was asked to obtain probate to obtain the £50K PB holding from a deceased estate. So what? It’s normal practice. The family claims it had to pay £1,800 in legal fees to access the savings. If someone had £50K in PBs one can probably assume they had other assets that would have needed probate to release.

DT has become as bad as the DM for exaggerating stories into “scandals”.

Why are MPs alleging that the taxpayer must pick up the costs? If the “missing” money from deceased estate is in a bank then that’s were it is.

Yes, it is the savings of the deceased and rightfully belongs to their heirs.
Of course, that money was on loan to the Government, not held in an account, and spent, so the Government would have to repay the loan, then presumably retrieve the money from the taxpayer at a future date.

The BBC is reporting the story too.

We win something almost every month. Biggest win was £10,000 2 years ago! Used it to take all the family on holiday, money well spent.

This is a customer service issue, one which happens with many financial institutions (and government departments) when someone dies. I am sure many people have experienced this. I certainly did when my DH died. Institutions behave as if no customer has ever died before and they don’t know what to do.

And while NS&I is somewhat different to a commercial bank it isn’t as if the money isn’t there.

The tired trope of "the taxpayer will have to pay" is being trotted out again by opposition MPs as if our pockets will be picked to resolve this matter and they has nothing to do with something that has been going on for years.

In terms of what the DMO raises in gilt sales, £300 billion for 2025/26, the amount involved in this is peanuts.

NS&I has long been an old-fashioned, clunky organisation to deal with, so it doesn’t surprise me this has happened and I’m glad it’s being resolved but it isn’t the huge scandal the DT is making it out to be.

A spokesperson for NS&I said: “We recognise that dealing with bereavement can be challenging and would like to apologise to anyone who has not received the customer service from NS&I that they should expect, particularly at such a sensitive time.” (The Guardian).

The tired trope of "the taxpayer will have to pay" is being trotted out again by opposition MPs as if our pockets will be picked to resolve this matter and they has nothing to do with something that has been going on for years.

It's a loan and must be repaid.

It would have been the same if the person had cashed in the bonds themselves but in this case NSI has been negligent.

We all need to check the details if we have NSI savings or investments!