NS&I just dropped the results for May's Premium Bonds draw, and two people in England walked away with a million pounds each. That’s seriously life-changing money. The whole thing included over 5.9 million prizes, adding up to more than £413 million in total. Crazy, right?
Who Won the Big One?
Two lucky winners hit the top prize this time — both from different parts of England. Here's what we know:
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Winner from Derbyshire: They won with a bond bought back in July 2021. The winning number was 462DR240519, and they had about £25,361 invested.
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Winner from Suffolk: This person grabbed the jackpot with a bond purchased in April 2017. Their winning number? 300ZZ346515. They had £35,000 saved in bonds.
It’s wild to think that just having Premium Bonds sitting there could suddenly land you a million pounds. Makes you wonder if it’s worth throwing a few more pounds into it, huh?
The Bigger Picture — Prize Details for May
Okay, so it wasn’t just those two big winners. This month’s draw gave out a ton of other prizes too — like millions of them. Here's a quick breakdown of how it all looked:
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Total number of prizes: 5,941,150
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Total prize money: £413,900,125
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Number of eligible bond numbers in the draw: 130.7 billion
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Odds of winning something: About 1 in 22,000
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Prize fund rate this month: 3.8%
It’s honestly kind of exciting to see those numbers. Even though most people won’t win a million, there are still a ton of smaller prizes flying around every single month.
How to Know If You Won Anything
If you're sitting there thinking, "Wait, do I have Premium Bonds?" — or even if you know you do — it’s super easy to check if your number came up. Here’s how you can find out:
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Head over to the official NS&I website and type in your holder’s number.
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Or you can download the NS&I Prize Checker app. It works with both your holder's number and your NS&I number.
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If you’ve got an Alexa device at home, just ask her: “Alexa, check my Premium Bonds.”
Takes like 30 seconds, and who knows — your name might be on that list.
Tons of Unclaimed Prizes Are Still Out There
Here’s something a lot of people don’t realize — there are currently over 2.5 million unclaimed prizes. And we’re talking about serious money, too: around £97.1 million just sitting there. That’s money people haven’t collected yet because maybe they lost track or forgot they even had bonds.
If you’ve ever bought Premium Bonds, even just once years ago, it's really worth checking. You could be sitting on a win and not even know it.
A Few Things to Keep in Mind
Premium Bonds can seem confusing at first, but here are some good-to-know things:
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You won’t lose any money. Whatever you put in stays safe — no risk to your original amount.
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Winnings are tax-free, even the big ones.
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The draws happen every month, and if you win, the money just shows up — no need to do anything.
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You can win anywhere from £25 all the way to £1 million.
When’s the Next One?
The next draw is set for early June 2025. If you're already in the game, maybe keep checking your account or turn on notifications in the app. That way, you won’t miss it if luck finally decides to show up at your door.
