NS&I says a staggering £122million in Premium Bond prizes has yet to be claimed. National Savings and Investments confirmed in June that there are 2,796,246 unclaimed prizes worth £121,903,050 just waiting to be claimed by bond holders.
This includes 17,917 unclaimed prizes totalling £756,600 in Leeds alone. A £25,000 prize from June 2023 has yet to be claimed in Cheshire & West Chester. The state-owned savings bank urged customers who suspect they could have an unclaimed prize to enter their holder’s number into NS&I‘s prize checker.
June’s £1m jackpot winners also hailed from Leeds and Cheshire & West Chester.
NS&I said the first Premium Bonds £1m winning bond number in June was 662EK268242. It was held by someone from Leeds.
The customer purchased the winning bond in February and hold £42,425. They are the fifth jackpot winner from Leeds, according to NS&I.
The second Premium Bonds £1 million jackpot bond number was 573GA618329. The bond was held by a person in Cheshire & West Chester, who purchased their winning bond in March 2024. The holder has £33,800 in their account.
Overall, June’s draw resulted in 5,954,593 tax-free prizes, totalling £376,627,975.
Premium Bonds went on sale for the first time in November 1956, with the first prize draw held in June 1957.
NS&I said the total value of prizes since the first draw almost 70 years ago stands at £41.5billion.
More than 99% of prizes have been paid to winners since 1957, but unclaimed prizes can result when customers change their address or bank details and forget to tell NS&I.
The bank said the best way to avoid prizes going unclaimed is to get them paid directly into the holder’s bank account.
Alternatively, prizes can be automatically reinvested into Premium Bonds as long as it does not exceed the £50,000 limit on how much you can hold.