Premium Bonds offer savers the security of a government-backed bank, tax-free returns and the hope of a bumper £1m jackpot win each month. 

Instead of paying interest, Premium Bonds with National Savings and Investments (NS&I) offer holders the chance to win monthly cash prizes of up to £1m, paid tax-free.

You can own up to £50,000 worth of Premium Bonds; each bond costs £1 and you have to hold a minimum of 25 to qualify for the draw.

It’s easy to check whether you’ve won a prize, yet millions of prizes are sat unclaimed, waiting to be reunited with their rightful winners.

Here, Telegraph Money explains how to check if you’ve got a Premium Bonds prize, and how to claim it.

How to check for existing Premium Bonds

If you’ve lost track of your Premium Bonds, or you’re not sure whether you hold any (if you think your parents bought some when you were young, for example) there are a few ways to track them down. 

If you’re details are set up with NS&I, 

Alternatively, you can use NS&I’s tracing service. This involves either printing and filling in NS&I’s form to track down your Premium Bonds, or you can just send a letter containing the following information:

  • Your name and address
  • Your address when the Premium Bonds were purchases, and any other previous addresses
  • Any previous names 
  • The rough date you opened the account
  • The approximate amount you think is invested
  • Any other information you think might be relevant (for example, if a parent made the transaction it may help to include their name)
  • The date and your signature.

Your letter or tracking form should be sent to: Tracing Service, NS&I, Sunderland, SR43 2SB.

How to check if you’ve won a monthly prize

If you hold Premium Bonds, the easiest way to check your success each month using NS&I’s Prize Checker app. To set it up, you’ll need to know your bond holder number, which will be on any correspondence you’ve received, and you’ll be asked to set up a Pin for each time you open the app.

If you’ve won a prize, or prizes, you’ll be told how much – but it might take a few days for the money to either reach your bank account or be reinvested for more Premium Bonds. 

If you log on before the results of the prize draw are ready, the app will let you know the date you should check back in – usually results are available on the second day of the month.

Alternatively, you can check via an Alexa-abled device.

If you’ve won, the prize will either be paid to you via a cheque in the post or bank transfer, or reinvested to buy more Premium Bonds. You’ll have made a choice about this – but you can change the payment options in your online account, or by calling NS&I.

How are Premium Bonds winners notified?

Winners will receive an email with the happy subject line “You’ve just won!”. This message won’t reveal the amount, however, so you’ll need to check with NS&I to know whether you can start planning to splurge on a luxury holiday or a round of drinks in the pub. 

If you are one of the month’s two lucky jackpot winners you’ll have a visit in person from Agent Million – an individual hired by NS&I to find and inform winners that they have scooped the £1m prize.

The undercover agent delivers the news on the first working day of the month, about 24 hours before the general prize draw results are announced. 

Higher value prize winners of £10,000 and above will be sent a prize claim form in the post, so you can specify where and how you would like your prize paid. You can opt to reinvest your prize money in more bonds (up to the maximum of £50,000) and increase your chance of winning again, or they can be paid straight into a bank account.

How do I check old premium bonds?

While premium bonds prize winners are notified when they win a prize, sometimes people move or change their contact details without letting NS&I know. 

This can lead to unclaimed prizes if they have opted to receive their winnings by cheque.

You can see if you have by using NS&I’s online prize checker or the prize checker app – you’ll need to have your bond holder’s number. 

What happens to unclaimed premium bonds? 

Premium bond winnings worth more than £80m are still waiting to be paid out. The oldest lost prize, worth £25, was won in 1957.

There are currently 2,300,820 unclaimed prizes of up to £100,000; in the South East alone there are more than £10m worth of prizes yet to be claimed.

Hundreds of thousands of these have arisen where NS&I does not know the correct details for the rightful owners – perhaps because they have moved overseas. 

Unclaimed prizes are always available to be claimed: NS&I holds on to them until the owner comes forward.

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