Two fortunate Premium Bond holders from Liverpool and Bedfordshire have each won a £1 million prize, as officially announced. The winning Bond numbers are 489TB013219, held by an individual in Central Bedfordshire, and 040QJ919368, held by a resident of Liverpool. Both winners purchased their winning Bonds within the allowed limit of £50,000 per person under NS&I’s rules.
These two winners are part of more than 6.1 million prizes totaling £408 million drawn by ERNIE this month for Premium Bond holders. ERNIE, the Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment, utilizes advanced technology for the monthly prize draw, bringing the total amount awarded to Premium Bond holders to £40 billion since the program’s inception in 1957, with 815 million prizes distributed.
While two individuals received £1 million each, most prizes are of lesser amounts, with 78 winners receiving £100,000 and 154 winners receiving £50,000. Additionally, there were 2,643,007 prizes worth £25 awarded.
NS&I’s retail director, Andrew Westhead, congratulated the winners and highlighted the substantial prizes distributed this month, emphasizing the total amount won by Premium Bond holders over the years. Premium Bonds offer a tax-free opportunity to save money, with individuals allowed to hold up to £50,000 in Bonds, guaranteed by the Treasury. New Bonds must be held for a full calendar month before being eligible for the prize draw.
The jackpot prize was raised to £1 million in April 1994, leading to two £1 million prizes awarded each month. Winners can check if they have won by using the Premium Bonds prize checker app or visiting the NS&I website the day after the first working day of each month.
Despite notifications being sent to winners each month via email or text, NS&I cautioned that unclaimed prizes worth nearly £114.8 million are waiting to be claimed, primarily due to outdated contact information.