MORE than 2.5million people are sitting on Premium Bond prizes worth a total of £100million.
Our map below reveals how much each region of the UK is owed and the total number of unclaimed prizes per area.
The latest figures from National Savings and Investments (NS&I) reveal there are currently 2,598,139 unclaimed prizes.
The total value of all of them is £103,270,175, up from £87,318,950 in October.
An NS&I spokesperson said: “NS&I has successfully paid out over 99% of all Premium Bonds prizes to our winners since 1957.
“But sometimes people move house without updating their contact details with NS&I, which can lead to unclaimed prizes.”
The figures from NS&I show the region with the highest number of unclaimed prizes inside the UK is South East England, where 398,013 are currently unclaimed to the value of £15,677,900.
After that is London, where 393,855 prizes worth £15,956,200 are yet to be claimed, then East of England where 234,951 prizes worth £9,210,250 are sitting untouched.
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Across Wales, 103,940 prizes totalling £4,083,800 are unclaimed, while in Scotland 146,352 worth £5,889,925 are still waiting to be cashed in.
Across the UK, 11 £100,000 prizes are yet to be claimed by their owners, 19 £50,000 prizes and 38 £25,000 prizes.
Meanwhile, 1,810,973 £25 prizes are yet to be snapped up.
Premium Bond prizes are classed as “unclaimed” after 18 months, although there is no time limit to claiming them.
The fresh data comes as NS&I said that more than £120million worth of unclaimed Premium Bond prizes was claimed in the 2024/25 financial year.
Andrew Westhead, NS&I’s retail director, added: “Every pound we reunite is money that rightly belongs to our customers or their families, whether it’s Premium Bonds savings, unclaimed prizes or forgotten accounts.”
How do I know if I’m due a prize?
The fastest way to see if you owed a prize is to download NS&I’s Prize Checker App.
You can download it for free onto your smartphone via the Apple App Store or Google Play.
What are Premium Bonds?
PREMIUM Bonds are the UK’s most popular savings product and are held by almost 23million people.
They can be bought from the government-backed National Savings and Investments (NS&I), which also offers other savings products.
Instead of giving savers a regular interest rate they are entered into a monthly prize draw which gives them the chance to bag a cash prize worth between £25 and £1 million.
You need to pay in a minimum of £25 to get started and can invest up to £50,000.
Each £1 you put in Premium Bonds is equivalent to an entry into the monthly prize draw.
The Premium Bond prize rate is equivalent to an average return of 4.4 per cent on your nest egg.
Some investors will win prizes that give them a higher rate than this but others will earn nothing.
You can put money in and take it out whenever you want.
Once open, you simply enter your NS&I number to find out if you have won a prize worth between £25 to £1million.
You can also use the prize checker on the NS&I website, which you can find via: www.nsandi.com/prize-checker.
If you think you may have savings with NS&I but have lost the details then you can track your nest egg down using its Tracing Service.
All you need to do is download and print a paper form from the NS&I website and post it to the company.
If you are registered for NS&I’s online and telephone service then you can call the company on 08085 007 007.
The phone line is open Monday to Friday between 8am and 8pm and on Saturdays and Sundays between 8am and 6pm.
If you do not own a printer you can also apply online through My Lost Account, which is a free service that helps you trace your lost accounts and savings.
For more information visit www.nsandi.com/help/lost-touch-with-nsandi/track-lost-investments.
How to avoid missing out on a prize
Keep your address and contact number up to date so you can receive any prizes you win as soon as possible.
You can also change how you would like to receive your prizes so any winnings are paid straight into your bank or building society account.
To do this, log into your account using the NS&I number and password, then go to your profile and click “Prize options”.
Other ways to uncover lost money
Jessica Willock, personal finance expert at Confused.com, reveals two other places you might have cash that’s been forgotten about…
Loyalty points – many of us have unused rewards in supermarket, bank or travel apps. These can often be exchanged for gift cards, discounts or even cash.
Unused subscriptions – Check your direct debits and app store payments. Cancelling services you no longer use could instantly free up extra cash each month.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.
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