Some £100 million in Premium Bonds prizes has gone unclaimed, including 11 life-changing jackpots worth £100,000 each.
Millions of Brits could be sitting on a win without even realising it, with National Savings & Investments (NS&I) confirming that 2,598,139 prizes remain untouched, some dating back as far as 1957.
Despite repeated warnings, reminders and the option to have winnings paid directly into a bank account, the value of forgotten prizes has ballooned by nearly 22% in just a year.
Most of the money is tied up in smaller prizes, but top bounties worth six figures are also gathering dust – including one in Stockport, another in Scotland, two in London, and three where the winner’s location is entirely unknown.
An NS&I spokesperson told Thisismoney: “Prizes are considered to be unclaimed after 18 months, so gradually accumulate every month.”
They added most are “won by holders who have not registered their details or have moved without telling us and their cheques are being returned.”
Where are the unclaimed millions?
A list of the biggest regional blackspots for unclaimed winnings is headed by the South East. Some 389,713 prizes worth £14.9m are still waiting to be claimed there.
London follows closely, with 386,616 prizes totalling £15.3m. But worryingly, more than 432,000 prizes – worth a combined £19.4m – are registered either to overseas addresses or none at all.
The Missing Millions
Region Unclaimed prizes Total value
South East 389,713 £14.9m
London 386,616 £15.3m
North West 303,587 £11.6m
East of England 256,904 £10.0m
South West 226,659 £8.9m
West Midlands 202,435 £7.7m
East Midlands 175,728 £6.7m
Yorks/Humber 164,894 £6.3m
Scotland 160,982 £6.1m
Wales 92,264 £3.4m
North East 83,405 £3.1m
N. Ireland 55,000 £2.0m
Overseas/Unknown 432,052 £19.4m
There are currently no unclaimed £1 million jackpots, thanks to a dedicated NS&I employee known only as ‘Agent Million’ who hand-delivers the good news to big winners.
However, eleven £100,000 prizes remain untouched, including one dating back to 2010. Three are owed to people living overseas or to bond holders with no known address.
Are your winnings among them?
Prizes go unclaimed for several reasons – often because the winners have moved and forgotten to update their details, or cheques are misplaced.
An attempt by NS&I in 2020 to phase out cheques and move to bank payments was scrapped a year later.
Yet the savings giant insists the money is still there and waiting. “We want to reunite Premium Bonds holders with their winnings,” a spokesperson said.
“That’s why we frequently publicise unclaimed prizes and encourage bond holders to use our prize checkers, register old paper bonds, and use our tracing service to track down mislaid bonds.”
In one recent case, a family in Scotland was reunited with a £100,000 prize after contacting the tracing team to check whether a deceased relative had ever won. The life-changing windfall had been awarded in June 2013 from a bond worth just £10.
How to trace a missing prize
If you think you or a family member could be due money, NS&I offers several ways to check:
Prize checker tool – Visit NS&I’s website or use the dedicated app. You’ll need your bond number or NS&I number.
No details? No problem. You can use the NS&I tracing service, either online or by post.
Lost the bond certificate? NS&I can still help. You can write to them with as many personal details as possible, including any past addresses, old names, and the amount invested.
Helping someone else? You can request a trace for someone else if you hold power of attorney or are acting as an executor.
NS&I’s tracing service, MyLostAccount, also works with UK Finance and the Building Societies Association to help locate forgotten savings across the financial system.
For help, visit the NS&I tracing service here or phone 08085 007 007.
A spokesperson added: “NS&I needs to ensure that it uses taxpayer money wisely while balancing the interests of savers, taxpayers and the broader financial services sector. It is therefore important people keep us up to date with their contact and bank details.”
