Advice on Premium bonds

binnie

My husband has come into some shares and has cashed them in. He is thinking of investing in some premium bonds to buy as one lump sum.
Does anybody have experience in buying any please and cashing them in?
We have read the website which sells them, but we want to hear it from a real person who has dealt with them.

He might invest a few thousand pounds, but want easy access to them if we need the money.

easylife73

Hi, we bought about £15,000 worth of Premium Bonds when we moved house about 5 years ago - we had that amount in cash but were planning on using it for an extension further down the line - hence needed easy access to it when the time came to pay the builder's staged payments.

We found the whole purchase process really straightforward, and when we needed to cash it in I seem to remember that being fairly straightforward too - I think you just had to send the relevant numbered certificated back to them in the envleopes they provided and then your money was returned. I can't remember now whether it was by cheque or bacnk transfer, but I think it took a week or so. Not 100% sure on timings though, but it was basically what they'd said it would be in their FAQs/information provided.

I think in terms of winnings, we averaged £50 each month when we had bonds at the £15k level. Not huge amounts, but your money is safe and you never know, you might just win a big prize! Altogether, it was a much more interesting way of holding our money until we needed it - quite exciting checking each month to see if we'd won anything!

binnie

Thanks for your reply. My dad pays in £100 a month every month and has won about 6 times, but just the small amounts of about £25.

LillythePink

Easy to buy and easy to cash in.

I had to cash them in as part of an estate that I was executor to, a few forms, copy of death cert/probate and I had the money quickly - obviously, you wouldn't be cashing them in the same way as I did, but if it was simple following a death, it will be simple with a basic "cash in"

I have also recently invested some money in them as well - "bought" them online, received a form to fill in and send off some docs to confirm identity and address, then the cert was sent through no problems

Yup - you may even win - so far I have won £25 - not huge, but more than the interest I would have got on the money - have held them since last August.

billsavings

This sort of question is best raised on the Savings and Investment board.:D

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=17

Have you read Martin,s Article on them ? http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/premium-bonds

RaiderHammer

I agree with easy life. The buying and selling process is easy and straight forward. With regards to income I am averaging more than the current interest rates and doing better than Martin's win calculator. This as been over a number of years. Add in 100% safe and you may be lucky and win a big one!

starstella

My friend bought a block of bonds when she retired last year.So far she has had 7 wins, one was £1000.Alas my own bonds have won nothing, it really is the luck of the draw.Ithink the larger the block you hold the better your chances.Good luck with them.

McKneff

Ive had a small amount for 40 plus years and not won a penny................

vikki.f

we have about £5k worth of bonds which were purchased in a number of blocks, in 4 years we have only won £50 but with interest rates so low its worth holding on a bit longer. We did have a DD set up for monthly purchases but stopped this to use the money for a better cause

sjpkgp

My husband and I invested the full £30,000 each about a year ago, was very easy ( i think it took about 10 minutes online), we haven't had to get our money back out yet, but understand (from others including our accountant) that it is no problem. The kids have also got about £1000 each in their names from family gifts. I once responded to a post in the more financial areas of the forum and was told that I was being stupid because I could have a better rate of return if I did X and Y etc, and if I faced off X risk, I could get Y return.

I think (as well as being slightly insulting) they were missing the point. We had £60,000 doing nothing in a current account, we are horribly busy so needed something with zero maintenance, zero risk. Our accountant advised us that "it wasn't a bad thing to do until you need your money back out to do the next thing"

The wins are not guaranteed, so you wouldn't stick it in if savings accounts were offering good rates.

That said, we have had a steady return better than the average - usually in the form of 2 or 3 cheques a month for £25, the money is safe.

The main advantage though (for me) is it keeps a dream alive, that one day I might open an envelope that contains far more than £25 or £50. I have spent many a happy hour envisaging how I will spend "the big win". Had I put my money in X and Y at Z risk, I suspect I would have spent many an unhappy hour worrying about "watching it", even though I might have been marginally better off.

It is definitely horses for courses, but I'd agree it is easy, possibly profitable in these times of low interest, but keeps a dream alive.

Sal xx