January Premium Bond winners REVEALED: Are you one of two new millionaires?
THE Premium Bond monthly draw for January has paid out a record 2.9 million prizes, making overnight millionaires of man in Kent and a woman in Wiltshire after they claimed the top two prizes of over £1 million each.
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The lucky winner from Kent bought his winning Bond in July 2006 and currently has £24,580 invested in Premium Bonds.
He becomes the 17th UK Premium Bonds millionaire and this success marks the second consecutive month the county has landed one of the two top prizes.
The Wiltshire winner has £25,103 invested in Premium Bonds, and her winning Bond was purchased in February 2002.
The pair are the UK’s 377th and 378th lucky recipients of Premium Bonds’ top prize.
In the January 2018 draw, a total of 2,964,409 prizes worth £84,732,650 will be paid out and a whopping 72,627,981,708 bonds were eligible for the draw.
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Since the first draw in June 1957 there have been 389 million winning prizes, and the total paid out to savers stands at more than £17.9 billion.
Jill Waters, Retail Director at the government-owned savings bank NS&I, said: “It is great that two people in Kent and Wiltshire have been able to celebrate the New Year more than usual, with an surprise on New Year’s Day.
“Our very own Agent Million hand delivers the good news in person, and while going to Kent will be a familiar journey, having last visited there last month, the visit to Wiltshire will be the first since April 2015.”
In this month’s draw, over 2.9 million tax-free prizes have been paid out ranging from the top £1m prize to £25 as won by 2,910,990 people.
Despite the popularity of ISAs, Premium Bonds remain the UK's biggest savings product, with one-third of the country, 21 million people, looking for value in a pot worth £72billion in them.
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It is great that two people in Kent and Wiltshire have been able to celebrate the New Year more than usual, with an surprise on New Year’s Day.
And with the Bank of England improving rates for savers from 1.15 per cent to 1.4 per cent
However, despite the random windfalls for lucky customers, now savings are mostly tax-free, Martin Lewis from MoneySavingExpert says Premium Bonds have lost much of their appeal.
Premium Bonds work like a savings account where the interest paid on the amount in your savings pot is decided by a monthly lottery draw.
Savers buy £1 bonds and as each bond has an equal chance of winning, the more you buy improves the chances of you winning, but as is made all the more obvious from this month’s winners, you need a lot in your pot to stand a chance of winning the top prizes.
But some of these top prizes have gone missing down the back of the UK’s savings sofa with Jill Waters adding that some UK savers are missing out on top prizes with unclaimed money in Kent dating back as far as 1959.
Ms Waters said: “At a time of giving and sharing, many people are receiving the gift of saving to help build for life events.
“Many people might have received Premium Bonds when they were children or at other times for Christmas, birthday or anniversary gifts and may have simply forgotten about them as the years have passed.
“We are trying to make people aware that from time to time things do go missing and that it might be a good time to check whether you have won any Premium Bond prizes that you didn’t previously know about.
“Premium Bonds prizes often become unclaimed as a result of people moving house and not telling NS&I, or not keeping their details held with us up to date.”
If you think you may have an unclaimed Premium Bonds prize, visit the NS&I website at www.nsandi.com, download the prize Checker app for free at the App Store on or Google Play or call NS&I’s Freephone number on 08085 007007 to see if you’re owed a prize.
