Was it worth buying a Premium Bond?

I found my £1 premium bond from childhood recently along with savings stamps with young Prince Charles on. Keep meaning to check to see if it "won". I've moved many times so my address won't be correct.

I have £2 in premium bonds bought for me when I was a child. My numbers have never come up!
Total waste of money that we had little of.

You can check the numbers online. Do tell us if it turns out you are a lucky winner.
There is £44million so far in unclaimed prizes.
www.theguardian.com/money/2013/jun/04/unclaimed-premium-bonds-44m
I still have a couple too but they haven't won me anything.

www.nsandi.com/help/lost-touch-with-nsandi/check-unclaimed-prizes

I had some but I cashed them all in when I bought new ones last year. I never won anything.

I’ve got ONE one pound one. I’ve never won a sausage despite buying it almost seventy years ago.
My niece invested a bundle last year and has had FOUR wins already.
Makes you sick !

there is rarely a month I do not win something- I am sure it is only an admin error I have not won the million!

I have one bought for me in 1958 - it has never won, though I have had a few £25 wins from bonds I bought ten years ago.

My family put together to buy us £100 premium bond in 1978 when we got married. I’ve checked a few times but it’s never won anything .

Good on you Charleygirl5. Read someguy who bought a £1 in 1956 won £1,000,000 in 2019 - but NOT with his origional £1 bond but from a more recent investment of £25,000.

Was really thinking about the impact that a premium bond doesn't go in value so felt it is now a worthless piece of paper. Back in the day I remember losing a 10 bob note when sent to get groceries. My mum went up the wall. We went hungry one night. Makes you appreciate how the value of money has changed.

DH and I both have bonds given to us as children - probably about £5 altogether. Despite some 60 years of draws, we've never won a thing. Mine were bought by my grandparents and I think they'd be very disappointed that I haven't had any benefit from what must have been quite an expense.

FiL had a much larger investment and frequently won £25.

Know a couple of people with maximum bonds, win many times. Think you need that amount to be able to win anything. Or am I very cynical?

We investment invested the maximum just over 2 years ago and win every month. The most has been 5x of £25 but we’ve started to cash in some now to help with house build. We’ve made more than leaving it in our savings account.

You can set up your account with NS&I so you get an email when you win. You can also use the app which gives you the answer on the day of the draw.

We were advised to buy 3 lots of big amounts to equal the maximum. One purchase wouldn’t give us a greater chance.

My grandmother had 14 grandchild and bought us each a £1 Premium Bonds each year for about 6 years in the 1960s.
Not one of us ever won a sausage. Still got them somewhere.

I collect most months but have a reasonable investment. Far better than the pathetic interest rate I can find anywhere even with a lengthy fixed period.

Those of you holding bonds since childhood, you do know that the Premium Bond service will NOT track you down if you have moved home since childhood. You have to check the bond number yourself on the unclaimed prize fund to see if you have won then contact them. Also they no longer send out warrants (cheques) but pay into bank account or give additional bonds. It's no use saying I've never heard from Ernie in 50 years if he doesn't know where you are.

I have the maximum investment and win every time, mostly only £25 or £50 the most in one month was £400.

We also win every month but both have the maximum investment

I have got a good amount of premium bonds - won £25 here and there, a bad investment ?

Interesting you posting about this, I've just found my two £1 pb's from 1963 and 1965, I've never won anything.

I had a bond come up when I was a child but mum and dad kept the money. Which is fine by me as we were very poor and my mum did cleaning work to pay for my school uniform. I did buy a bond 30 or so years ago. Haven’t changed address since. Would they contact me at that address or do I need to check with them if I’ve won anything?

I’ve got just over £100 which I’ve had since I was a baby. I have the occasional win. Daughter has a couple of hundred pounds which I got for her last year but no wins as yet for her! I won’t cash mine in for sentimental reasons.

A cheque for £25 came for my dad about 2 years after he died, which was probably the first win in about 40 years. When I had POA for DM I bought £30K worth of Premium Bonds for her and she had a win almost every month - always the minimum amount but generally better than current interest rates. I do think you have to invest a substantial amount to get any return. Otherwise you might as well keep doing the Lottery.

Maybee - it depends if you registered your current address at the time. If not your holders number default will be the first address ever registered. There are many millions in unclaimed prizes most of which have been returned to Ernie via Royal Mail occupant /address unknown. Some will have died but others have forgotten to let Ernie know they moved house. The best place to check is on the Premium Bond website and occasionally The Guardian or Times have a full supplement of unclaimed prizes in number and alphabetical order.