National Savings and Investments (NS&I) has issued a stark warning to UK savers, revealing that a colossal number of Premium Bonds prizes have gone unclaimed. The government-backed savings provider is urging millions of customers to check if they are sitting on a forgotten windfall.
A Mountain of Missing Millions
The figures released by NS&I are eye-watering. There are currently 2,677,306 unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes in the system, with a combined value of £111 million. This vast sum represents thousands of individual jackpots, from smaller rewards to life-changing amounts, that have not yet reached their rightful owners.
Andrew Westhead, NS&I Retail Director, commented ahead of the festive season: “2025 has been another outstanding year for Premium Bonds. As we marked the 68th anniversary of ERNIE drawing the first winners in June, it’s been great to see that Premium Bonds continue to bring excitement and opportunity to savers far and wide.”
How to Claim Your Potential Prize
NS&I is advising holders to take simple steps to ensure they never miss a prize again. The most effective method is to set up an online account and arrange for any winnings to be paid directly into a bank account or automatically reinvested into more Bonds.
To check for any existing unclaimed prizes, savers can use the official NS&I prize checker service. The process is straightforward:
- Visit the NS&I website or use their official app.
- Enter your unique Premium Bonds holder's number.
- The tool will instantly reveal if you have any prizes awaiting collection.
All prizes from Premium Bonds are free from UK Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax, making them an attractive savings vehicle for millions. The organisation, which boasts over 24 million customers, currently offers an annual prize fund rate of 3.60%, with monthly odds of any single £1 Bond number winning set at 22,000 to 1.
Record Year for Premium Bonds Savers
The call to check for prizes comes after another hugely successful year for the savings product. In 2025 alone, NS&I paid out 71,722,056 prizes to holders, totalling a monumental £4,950,616,350.
Popularity shows no sign of waning, with more than 470,000 people opening new Premium Bonds accounts this year. The average balance for these new customers in 2025 was a substantial £10,674. Proving that luck can strike quickly, one of December’s two jackpot winners had only purchased their winning Bond in February of the same year.
“From our long-standing Bond holders to our thousands of new customers, we’re proud that NS&I is trusted by millions of savers,” added Westhead. “We’re looking forward to paying out millions more tax-free prizes in 2026.”
