Record £35m in Premium Bond prizes go unclaimed

Premium Bond winnings worth a record £35 million have not yet been claimed, National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has said.

According to the savings group, some 599,000 prizes remain unclaimed – up by 50,000 in six months. Amongst the outstanding winnings are two prizes of £100,000.

It is thought that many of the prizes go unclaimed because investors fail to update their contact details when they change address, while others do not notify NS&I when a bond holder dies.

With no time limit for claiming Premium Bond prizes, the oldest unclaimed prize, worth £25, dates back to November 1957.

NS&I gives away over one million tax-free Premium Bond prizes each month, and prizes range from £25 to a single £1m.

Recent figures show that at the end of June, more than 23 million people had a total of more than £40bn invested in Premium Bonds.

Bond holders can check whether they have an unclaimed prize by visiting the NS&I’s website at www.nsandi.com.