Big Premium Bonds prizes unclaimed by overseas savers
NS&I urges Premium Bond holders to register for international payments service.
More than £3 million-worth of Premium Bonds prizes won by savers based overseas have not been claimed.
NS&I, which provides the bonds, revealed that there are 850,000 savers based abroad holding Premium Bonds worth almost £750 million. Of these, 30,000 have had the address they provided to NS&I flagged as undeliverable, meaning they may be missing out on significant prizes, with one currently unclaimed prize worth a whopping £100,000.
Top prizes
The table below outlines the six highest unclaimed prizes from overseas winners.
|
Winning bond number |
Prize value |
Gender |
Present Premium Bonds holding |
Month and year of winning draw |
|
5ET395766 |
£100,000 |
Female |
£6 |
February 2007 |
|
23XP070061 |
£50,000 |
Unknown |
£300 |
May 2011 |
|
45EW362051 |
£10,000 |
Female |
£24,250 |
February 2013 |
|
3QL448423 |
£5,000 |
Male |
£75 |
April 2000 |
|
8DS137312 |
£5,000 |
Unknown |
£2,000 |
December 2000 |
|
61AP712139 |
£5,000 |
Female |
£1,200 |
May 2006 |
In total more than 63,000 prizes remain unclaimed. However, there is no time limit for claiming prizes, so the money is held until the rightful winner can be tracked down.
NS&I has urged those with Premium Bonds who are based overseas to register for its online and telephone service, or to opt to have their prizes paid directly into their current account. You can do that by registering for NS&I’s international payments service.
NS&I says that prizes generally go unclaimed as a result of people moving house, forgetting that bonds were bought for them as a child, or executors are unaware the bonds are held when someone dies.
How to check if you've won
If you want to check whether you are owed a prize, you can use the prize checker on the NS&I website. You just need to enter the number into the search bar. Alternatively you can write to NS&I, quoting your name and address, and former names and addresses, date of birth and (if known) their Premium Bonds holder’s number.
Fancy earning some interest on your money instead? Compare savings accounts
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