Erin Yurday
Author
Unclaimed Premium Bond prizes: how to check if you've won
There are 2,851,753 unclaimed Premium Bond prizes worth £126.8 million, according to NS&I (September 2026). That's up from 2,733,973 prizes worth £116.5 million in March 2026.
There's no deadline to claim a Premium Bond prize. NS&I keeps the money until it's claimed, however long that takes.
Why prizes go unclaimed
NS&I usually contacts winners, but prizes can be missed if:
you've moved house or changed your name and haven't updated your details
a letter is lost or an email goes to your junk folder
you've forgotten you hold bonds, for example ones bought years ago or as a gift
Most unclaimed prizes are small. In NS&I's October 2025 breakdown, £25 and £50 prizes made up more than 9 in 10 of all unclaimed prizes.
Prize | Number unclaimed (Oct 2025) | Total value |
£25 | 1,842,557 | £46,063,925 |
£50 | 534,886 | £26,744,300 |
£100 | 113,182 | £11,318,200 |
£500 | 5,902 | £2,951,000 |
£1,000 | 1,958 | £1,958,000 |
£5,000 to £100,000 | 234 | £3,305,000 |
Other (older £250 prizes) | 14 | £3,500 |
Total | 2,498,733 | £92,343,925 |
Source: NS&I, October 2025.
How to check if you've won
Online or in the app: use NS&I's prize checker. You'll need your holder's number.
By post: write to NS&I with your name, address, date of birth and NS&I or Premium Bonds holder's number. Check NS&I's website for the current postal address.
How to avoid missing future prizes
Keep your contact details up to date with NS&I (online, by phone or by post).
Choose to have prizes paid straight into your bank account, or reinvested automatically in more bonds.
From the September 2026 draw, the prize fund rate is 4.35% and the odds of each £1 bond winning are 21,000 to 1. Two £1 million jackpots are drawn each month. The prize fund rate is an average across all bonds, not a guaranteed return: you might win more, less or nothing. Prizes are tax-free, and you can hold up to £50,000.
Read more:
Erin Yurday
Author
Meet the author
Author
Erin Yurday
Erin was the founder of NimbleFins, a data driven personal finance site. A former derivatives trader and finance expert at the Stanford Graduate School, Erin turns research into plain answers so you can understand your credit.
Unclaimed Premium Bond prizes: how to check if you've won
Erin Yurday
Author
There are 2,851,753 unclaimed Premium Bond prizes worth £126.8 million, according to NS&I (September 2026). That's up from 2,733,973 prizes worth £116.5 million in March 2026.
There's no deadline to claim a Premium Bond prize. NS&I keeps the money until it's claimed, however long that takes.
Why prizes go unclaimed
NS&I usually contacts winners, but prizes can be missed if:
you've moved house or changed your name and haven't updated your details
a letter is lost or an email goes to your junk folder
you've forgotten you hold bonds, for example ones bought years ago or as a gift
Most unclaimed prizes are small. In NS&I's October 2025 breakdown, £25 and £50 prizes made up more than 9 in 10 of all unclaimed prizes.
Prize | Number unclaimed (Oct 2025) | Total value |
£25 | 1,842,557 | £46,063,925 |
£50 | 534,886 | £26,744,300 |
£100 | 113,182 | £11,318,200 |
£500 | 5,902 | £2,951,000 |
£1,000 | 1,958 | £1,958,000 |
£5,000 to £100,000 | 234 | £3,305,000 |
Other (older £250 prizes) | 14 | £3,500 |
Total | 2,498,733 | £92,343,925 |
Source: NS&I, October 2025.
How to check if you've won
Online or in the app: use NS&I's prize checker. You'll need your holder's number.
By post: write to NS&I with your name, address, date of birth and NS&I or Premium Bonds holder's number. Check NS&I's website for the current postal address.
How to avoid missing future prizes
Keep your contact details up to date with NS&I (online, by phone or by post).
Choose to have prizes paid straight into your bank account, or reinvested automatically in more bonds.
From the September 2026 draw, the prize fund rate is 4.35% and the odds of each £1 bond winning are 21,000 to 1. Two £1 million jackpots are drawn each month. The prize fund rate is an average across all bonds, not a guaranteed return: you might win more, less or nothing. Prizes are tax-free, and you can hold up to £50,000.
Read more:
Erin Yurday
Author
Meet the author
Author
Erin Yurday
Erin was the founder of NimbleFins, a data driven personal finance site. A former derivatives trader and finance expert at the Stanford Graduate School, Erin turns research into plain answers so you can understand your credit.