Two lucky Premium Bonds holders, one from Liverpool and the other from Norfolk, have each won a substantial £1 million prize. National Savings & Investments (NS&I) announced that the first winning bond number, 496VT504601, belongs to a Liverpool resident who purchased the bond in April 2022. This individual holds a maximum of £50,000 in bonds and is the fifth jackpot winner from Liverpool.
The second £1 million jackpot bond number, 282NN327573, is owned by a person in Norfolk who acquired the bond in September 2016. Like the Liverpool winner, they also hold a maximum of £50,000 in bonds and are the third person from Norfolk to win the £1 million jackpot.
NS&I Retail Director, Andrew Westhead, expressed joy for the winners in Liverpool and Norfolk, highlighting that this March has brought them a significant windfall. In addition to the jackpot wins, over £410 million in tax-free prizes were distributed to more than six million winners by ERNIE in this month’s draw.
The total amount paid to Premium Bonds prize draw winners in this month’s draw is £410,607,175, distributed among 6,221,321 winners in tax-free prizes. Since the inception of the prize draw in June 1957, the total value of prizes has exceeded £40.3 billion.
Apart from the two £1 million winners, there were 78 bond holders who won £100,000 each in this month’s draw. The draw also awarded 156 prizes of £50,000, 313 prizes of £25,000, and 782 prizes of £10,000 each. Additionally, nearly 2.7 million bond holders received £25 each.
Premium Bonds were first introduced in November 1956, with the inaugural prize draw conducted by ERNIE in June 1957. Individuals can hold up to £50,000 in Premium Bonds, which are backed by the UK Treasury and offer the chance to win tax-free prizes.
Newly purchased Premium Bonds must be held for a full calendar month after purchase to qualify for the prize draw. The bond numbers of the £1 million jackpot prize winners are revealed on the first working day of each month, after being contacted by Agent Million.
Bond holders can verify if they have won prizes ranging from £25 to £100,000 by using the Premium Bonds prize checker app, visiting the NS&I website, or asking Alexa on the day after the first working day of each month, which for March is Tuesday, March 3rd.
To check prizes on the NS&I website, bond holders need their Premium Bonds holder’s number, while app users can use their holder’s number or their NS&I number to check their prizes.