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Media centre /
Press releaseWANTED! 433,397 MISSING WINNERS OF PREMIUM BOND PRIZES WORTH OVER £25 MILLION30 August 2005A major search is underway to find the missing winners of more than £25 million of unclaimed Premium Bond prizes – the largest amount ever. The unclaimed prizes range in value from £25,000 to £25, according to National Savings and Investments (NS&I), the government-backed savings and investments provider. (See Notes to Editors for list of top 20 unclaimed prizes) More prizes NS&I is giving away more Premium Bond prizes than ever before – over one million tax-free prizes are awarded each month, ranging from £50 to two £1 million jackpots. This, coupled with people’s failure to notify NS&I of their new address when they move home - recent NS&I research¹ shows that one in four people (26%) who moved house in the last 12 months forgot to pass on their change of address details to all their financial providers - has led to the growing amount of unclaimed Premium Bond prize money. Regional breakdown Greater London holds 19% of the UK’s £25 million of unclaimed Premium Bond prize money – the highest in the country. Scotland has the second highest (£1,415,725), followed by Greater Manchester (£798,100), West Midlands (£785,025) and Essex (£604,100). Top 10 UK regions for unclaimed Premium Bond prizes
Premium Bond prize checker NS&I notifies customers of their winnings by writing to them directly. Customers who have kept NS&I informed of their new address details are unlikely to have any unclaimed prizes outstanding. Customers who own Premium Bonds and think they may have any unclaimed prizes can use the Premium Bond prize checker² on the NS&I website at: www.nsandi.com – customers simply need to enter their Premium Bond holder’s number. Alternatively they can write to: Premium Bonds No time limit NS&I is keen to reunite winners with their prizes and urges customers to get back in touch and check if they are a winner. There is no time limit on claiming. Each unclaimed prize is held until the winner can be tracked down. The oldest unclaimed prize dates back to the first draw in June 1957. Childhood saving Some people might not be aware they have Premium Bonds, which are entered into a prize draw each month. They might not remember making their original investment or perhaps they, like many others, were given Premium Bonds as a child and have simply forgotten about them. Sally Swait, Premium Bond manager at NS&I said: “There is at least one unclaimed prize valued at £25,000 plus three of £10,000 each outstanding and hundreds of £1,000 prizes. It’s remarkable that we need to remind customers to claim any prize, particularly those worth £25,000. We’re standing by to give away as much as possible of the £25 million in unclaimed prizes and urge customers to get in touch to check if they are a winner.” Ends Notes to Editors Top 20 highest value unclaimed Premium Bond prizes
1. Research carried out by TNS PhoneBus, 15 – 17 April 2005 among 1,006 adults aged 16+. Respondents were asked “When you moved home, did you forget to forward your new address to any organisation that you have savings, investments or another financial product with?” 2. The Premium Bond prize checker at www.nsandi.com holds winning numbers for the past six draws 3. Premium bond prizes are classified as unclaimed if they have not been claimed 18 months after the Prize Draw in which they were won. 4. For further information on unclaimed Premium Bond prizes including data for other regions, please contact the NS&I media team. 6. NS&I has a number of spokespeople available for interviews and our experienced radio team is available via our ISDN line: 020 7602 4522.
Media team The numbers below are for media use only. Customers wishing to contact NS&I can find details here.
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