Premium Bond Winner ?

onthebench

High value winners are out now. Unsurprisingly I’m not on the list but I hope someone can explain an oddity. 

If you sort the list by date purchased, from earliest to latest, surely you would expect the bond numbers to ascend too (with minor fluctuations within the range issued in any given month).

Yet that doesn’t seem to be the case:

95ST583745 was purchased in Oct 98. So you’d think the “two-digit at the front” bond numbers were soon to run out. 

But then there was one starting 83 sold in Dec 98 and then a 63 in Mar 99. And then in Oct 99 there was a single-digit bond starting with just 9!

Subsequent bonds over the next six years or so were also all over the place, with two-digit numbers seemingly ordered randomly and even the occasional single-digit one being sold. 

Some time between Sep 05 and Feb 06 the current three-digit numbering system started and since then the numbers seem to behave as you would expect, increasing over time from 100XXNNNNNN to the current numbers in the mid 400s. 

Were there different bond ranges being sold through different methods before the current number range was introduced?

Loveactually

Looking forward for a small win at least no win in the last month too holding 24k

had 3 wins of £25 since January 21 to May 21 

pbcpdeveloper

onthebench said:

I think your right, it does look wrong,  I emailed NS&I about it.  I suppose if bonds numers were transferred to a new owner, like inheritance, then they might get re-assigned a purchase date ?

[Deleted User]

eskbanker said:

Deleted_User said:

Indout96 said:

getting a bit fed up now £15k holdings not had a win for 11 months now 

Sell and re-buy new bonds.

Hopefully a tongue in cheek suggestion rather than a serious one - deliberately missing out on a draw in order to do something completely futile obviously makes no sense....

As I was told when I suggested this before. I am being serious. The reality is, when I was not winning, I sold and purchased again, and then won. Even though in theory it should not make a difference, all I can say is, for me it did. And Missing out on one draw is worth it if you have lost for years and years.

eskbanker

[Deleted User] said:

eskbanker said:

[Deleted User] said:

Indout96 said:

getting a bit fed up now £15k holdings not had a win for 11 months now 

Sell and re-buy new bonds.

Hopefully a tongue in cheek suggestion rather than a serious one - deliberately missing out on a draw in order to do something completely futile obviously makes no sense....

As I was told when I suggested this before. I am being serious. The reality is, when I was not winning, I sold and purchased again, and then won. Even though in theory it should not make a difference, all I can say is, for me it did. And Missing out on one draw is worth it if you have lost for years and years.

The fact that the draws are random effectively means that half of those changing their bonds will have better luck than before and half will fare worse afterwards, i.e. the overall net effect will be neutral, but guess which half will be more likely to share their stories....!

If you'd bought the first batch on an even-numbered date and replaced them with a new set bought on an odd date, which were then less fortunate, would you conclude that bonds bought on an even date were luckier?

[Deleted User]

eskbanker said:

Deleted_User said:

eskbanker said:

Deleted_User said:

Indout96 said:

getting a bit fed up now £15k holdings not had a win for 11 months now 

Sell and re-buy new bonds.

Hopefully a tongue in cheek suggestion rather than a serious one - deliberately missing out on a draw in order to do something completely futile obviously makes no sense....

As I was told when I suggested this before. I am being serious. The reality is, when I was not winning, I sold and purchased again, and then won. Even though in theory it should not make a difference, all I can say is, for me it did. And Missing out on one draw is worth it if you have lost for years and years.

The fact that the draws are random effectively means that half of those changing their bonds will have better luck than before and half will fare worse afterwards, i.e. the overall net effect will be neutral, but guess which half will be more likely to share their stories....!

If you'd bought the first batch on an even-numbered date and replaced them with a new set bought on an odd date, which were then less fortunate, would you conclude that bonds bought on an even date were luckier?

It depends if they win.

I would not suggest selling if you win on a regular basis, only if you have dire results over the year. Then you have nothing to lose unless you are extremely unlucky and happen to withdraw on the month you was going to win big. But I sell and buy PB on regular occasion depending on cash flow needs, so this could be the case every time you sell.

IanManc

pbcpdeveloper said:

onthebench said:

I think your right, it does look wrong,  I emailed NS&I about it.  I suppose if bonds numers were transferred to a new owner, like inheritance, then they might get re-assigned a purchase date ?

Bonds can't be "transferred to a new owner". They can't be inherited , or given away. On death of a holder the executor cashes them in and the proceeds go to the beneficiary.

pbcpdeveloper

I sold £1000 worth of bonds in April 2020, which was made up of 3 separate blocks, 2 x £300 and a £400 all bought in Ferbuary 2013. They had never won anything and were quite clearly faulty so I wasn't sorry to seem them go.  Bought a shiney new block of £1k in June 2020 and waited for their freshly bought winning potential to start working. They also have not won anything. I am starting to think its that particular £1000 that is unlucky.

redpete

[Deleted User] said:

eskbanker said:

Deleted_User said:

eskbanker said:

[Deleted User] said:

Indout96 said:

getting a bit fed up now £15k holdings not had a win for 11 months now 

Sell and re-buy new bonds.

Hopefully a tongue in cheek suggestion rather than a serious one - deliberately missing out on a draw in order to do something completely futile obviously makes no sense....

As I was told when I suggested this before. I am being serious. The reality is, when I was not winning, I sold and purchased again, and then won. Even though in theory it should not make a difference, all I can say is, for me it did. And Missing out on one draw is worth it if you have lost for years and years.

The fact that the draws are random effectively means that half of those changing their bonds will have better luck than before and half will fare worse afterwards, i.e. the overall net effect will be neutral, but guess which half will be more likely to share their stories....!

If you'd bought the first batch on an even-numbered date and replaced them with a new set bought on an odd date, which were then less fortunate, would you conclude that bonds bought on an even date were luckier?

It depends if they win.

I would not suggest selling if you win on a regular basis, only if you have dire results over the year. Then you have nothing to lose unless you are extremely unlucky and happen to withdraw on the month you was going to win big. But I sell and buy PB on regular occasion depending on cash flow needs, so this could be the case every time you sell.

You do have something to lose, the chance of winning in the month you sell and re-buy.  Chances of winning next month are exactly the same whether you've won nothing for 5 years or won £1000 a month for the last 6 months, that's a fact, not a matter of opinion.

[Deleted User]

redpete said:

Deleted_User said:

eskbanker said:

Deleted_User said:

eskbanker said:

Deleted_User said:

Indout96 said:

getting a bit fed up now £15k holdings not had a win for 11 months now 

Sell and re-buy new bonds.

Hopefully a tongue in cheek suggestion rather than a serious one - deliberately missing out on a draw in order to do something completely futile obviously makes no sense....

As I was told when I suggested this before. I am being serious. The reality is, when I was not winning, I sold and purchased again, and then won. Even though in theory it should not make a difference, all I can say is, for me it did. And Missing out on one draw is worth it if you have lost for years and years.

The fact that the draws are random effectively means that half of those changing their bonds will have better luck than before and half will fare worse afterwards, i.e. the overall net effect will be neutral, but guess which half will be more likely to share their stories....!

If you'd bought the first batch on an even-numbered date and replaced them with a new set bought on an odd date, which were then less fortunate, would you conclude that bonds bought on an even date were luckier?

It depends if they win.

I would not suggest selling if you win on a regular basis, only if you have dire results over the year. Then you have nothing to lose unless you are extremely unlucky and happen to withdraw on the month you was going to win big. But I sell and buy PB on regular occasion depending on cash flow needs, so this could be the case every time you sell.

You do have something to lose, the chance of winning in the month you sell and re-buy.  Chances of winning next month are exactly the same whether you've won nothing for 5 years or won £1000 a month for the last 6 months, that's a fact, not a matter of opinion.

As I already stated, my experience suggests otherwise. That is my opinion. And you have repeated what I already said. Fact or no fact. I can only tell you what has occurred for me.