Premium Bond Winner ?

vickyholly

wirchow said:

I bought 20k about 3 years ago and have had dribs and drabs. Persuaded family to buy a load and they've had similar. But it's a lot of fun on the family WhatsApp every month.
Then last Thursday my daughter won £50k. Dad's stock has markedly risen. 

love this. Its great to hear of people winning larger amounts .

Primrose

And let,s hope the family don,t expect they have an automatic right to a share of it.  One reads of some very unpleasant stories of a sense of false entitlement sometimes when one winning member of a group has a lucky break.

ForumUser7

Prize rate -> 3.30% effective next months draw

‘ The Premium Bonds prize fund rate is increasing to 3.30%, up from 3.15%, effective from next month’s draw, meaning around £15 million more in prizes up for grabs. And in a further Valentine’s Day boost for people’s savings pots, Direct Saver and Income Bonds customers will also see their interest rates increase to 2.85%, up from 2.60%, from today.’

Source ~ https://nsandi-corporate.com/news-research/news/nsi-gives-valentines-day-boost-savers

Swipe

Oh dear, my PB rate of returns has plummeted with each prize fund increase. Happy about the Direct Saver hike though.

justwantedtosay

Swipe said:

Oh dear, my PB rate of returns has plummeted with each prize fund increase. Happy about the Direct Saver hike though.

Same here. With MSE's 'average luck' I should have had 4 prizes of £50 or £100 since October but only had the one of £50 and no £100 wins, along with a few £25s.

I see I won exactly the same amount (£250) in the five months to September 2022, when rates were 1 and 1.4%, as in the five months since, when rates were between 2.2 and 3.15% - with only £50 in the last two draws, when rates were 3% or more. If this trend continues I'll be having to pay NS&I if the rates go much higher.

Oh well, fingers crossed for March.

ljayljay

onthebench said:

ljayljay said:

Congratulations on your good fortune & great timing for a big win.

One thing that has always interested me & you may be able to answer is the notification timing of a large win.

As many will already be aware the large wins of £5K plus are published early to include winner location but also specifically the winning bond number. I have always therefore assumed that if I was lucky enough to win £5K or more, excluding a millionaire visit, I would be contacted either by phone or email in advance of the smaller wins being announced. Did you receive any earlier communication at all? If not, I will look forward to checking the app with greater anticipation in the future as I have always thought that without prior notification £1K would be the max I could win.

PS If there is no prior notification, I still won't be tempted to go through the published list in advance but will retain hope of a big big win right up until I check next.

No there was no early notification, the first I knew of it was checking the app. My wife received the usual “you’ve won a prize” email on Feb 4th but no indication it was a bigger proze. 

In previous months I would often go through the “big prize” list on the first of the month looking for matching location and holding amount but I hadn’t bothered this month. 

Thanks that is good to know.....will open the app with greater anticipation for the next draw....especially with even more large prizes announced .

Eirambler

Good to see the prize fund raised again. The recent rises haven't fed through to me in winnings yet, after beating the prize rate for each of the first eight months of the financial year my luck has gone cold in 2023 and I have fallen well below the rate the last two months, including a disastrous £0 off £45k in bonds this month! Still ahead of the prize rate over the course of the financial year for now though.

Have they given a breakdown of how the extra fund will be distributed - having added more £50s and £100s recently maybe it's time to add in some additional £25 prizes to minimise the likelihood of someone with a decent amount drawing a blank a few months in a row. It's always nice to get a "win", even if it's just £25.

eskbanker

Eirambler said:

Have they given a breakdown of how the extra fund will be distributed - having added more £50s and £100s recently maybe it's time to add in some additional £25 prizes to minimise the likelihood of someone with a decent amount drawing a blank a few months in a row. It's always nice to get a "win", even if it's just £25.

The revised prize breakdown is shown in the press release linked a few posts ago.

Like the other recent rises, the likelihood of winning a prize remains the same, at 24,000 to one per bond per month, so the fact that the additional prizes aren't £25s doesn't signify a reduced chance of winning but simply a higher average prize value.

Zerforax

eskbanker said:

Eirambler said:

Have they given a breakdown of how the extra fund will be distributed - having added more £50s and £100s recently maybe it's time to add in some additional £25 prizes to minimise the likelihood of someone with a decent amount drawing a blank a few months in a row. It's always nice to get a "win", even if it's just £25.

The revised prize breakdown is shown in the press release linked a few posts ago.

Like the other recent rises, the likelihood of winning a prize remains the same, at 24,000 to one per bond per month, so the fact that the additional prizes aren't £25s doesn't signify a reduced chance of winning but simply a higher average prize value.

So really want you want a holding of at least £24,000?

eskbanker

Zerforax said:

eskbanker said:

Eirambler said:

Have they given a breakdown of how the extra fund will be distributed - having added more £50s and £100s recently maybe it's time to add in some additional £25 prizes to minimise the likelihood of someone with a decent amount drawing a blank a few months in a row. It's always nice to get a "win", even if it's just £25.

The revised prize breakdown is shown in the press release linked a few posts ago.

Like the other recent rises, the likelihood of winning a prize remains the same, at 24,000 to one per bond per month, so the fact that the additional prizes aren't £25s doesn't signify a reduced chance of winning but simply a higher average prize value.

So really want you want a holding of at least £24,000?

Not really, odds of 24,000 to one doesn't mean that you're guaranteed a prize if you have a £24,000 holding - it just means that on average that's what the most likely outcome is.  It's all a linear sliding scale though, rather than any particularly significant step changes, and the more you have and/or the longer you hold them, the higher your cumulative winnings should be, i.e. your expected winnings from £24K for a year would be the same as £12K for two years or £48K for six months....