Two lucky Premium Bonds holders have each scooped the £1million jackpot, without needing to hit the maximum £50k savings limit to do so.
The first jackpot winner, from Hertfordshire, holds £15,000 in Premium Bonds and purchased the winning bond in June 2021.
The second winning bond number belonged to someone from Essex. They held £25,253 in Premium Bonds and purchased their winning bond number in May 2015.
Lucky winner: A bond holder with just £1,001 in their account won the £1million jackpot in August 2021, which is one of the lowest holdings to have taken the prize
The popular National Savings and Investments product allows savers to save up to £50,000 in the accounts, with more than 22million people – one in three of the UK population – holding them.
Eleven of the last 36 winners of the £1million prize held the maximum £50,000, whilst three others held £49,000 or more.
In total, 24 of the last 36 winners held £30,000 of Premium Bonds or more, meaning 12 jackpot winners held less than £30,000 over the last year and a half.
So whilst it is clear holding the maximum amount boosts a person’s chances of winning big, those with smaller holdings can still get lucky.
A bond holder with just £1,001 won the £1million jackpot in August 2021, which is one of the lowest holdings to have won the top prize.
Of all the 494 Premium Bonds millionaires on record, just 13 others have won the £1million jackpot with a smaller overall holding.
Premium Bonds Winners
| Prize | Area | Value of bond |
| £1,000,000 | Hertfordshire | £15,000 |
| £1,000,000 | Essex | £25,000 |
| £100,000 | Lincolnshire | £10,000 |
| £100,000 | West Sussex | £50,000 |
| £100,000 | Warwickshire | £10,000 |
| £100,000 | Hampshire and Isle of Wight | £10,000 |
| £100,000 | Inner London | £50,000 |
| £100,000 | Norfolk | £4,000 |
More November 2022 winners
On top of the two £1 million winners, there will be many more who benefited from prizes ranging from £25 to £100,000 this month.
As of last month, NS&I increased the prize fund rate from 1.4 per cent to 2.2 per cent, the biggest single increase in more than 40 years.
This meant that for the more than 22 million people who currently hold Premium Bonds, their odds of winning improved from 24,500 to 1 to 24,000 to 1.
There were more than 119billion bond numbers eligible for November’s draw, which will see almost 5million prizes worth £219 million being paid out.
Compared to the September draw, the number of £5,000, £10,000, £25,000, £50,000 and £100,000 prizes almost doubled.
For example, there are now 18 £100,000 prizes, up from 10 in September, and 36 £50,000 prizes, up from 20.
Could the Premium Bond prize rate rise again?
NS&I increased savings rates both in July and October, and boosted the premium bond prize rate in October.
Whether we will see NS&I increase the number of prizes once again, will likely depend on savings rates across the wider market and how likely the Government-backed bank is to hit its annual funding target.
Halfway through the financial year, NS&I has announced it has so far raised £3.4 billion, with £2.1 billion raised between July and September.
This means that it is at present comfortably on track to hit its ‘net financing’ target of £6 billion.
A spokesperson for the Savings Guru said: ‘On current numbers I’d say there is no chance of rate rises, but I suspect that we may see further increases as they’ll fall back quickly when the base goes up on Thursday and again in December.
‘For example, when the premium bond rise was announced, it made them a best buy compared to easy-access. At 2.2 per cent, now they wouldn’t make the top 10.
‘I think there will be further rises but it will only be in response to market movements to maintain current inflows, because their performance numbers suggests they are in track at the moment.
‘Ultimately, the advice to NS&I savers still stands – there’s better value and service elsewhere.’
>> Check latest easy-access savings rates using our independent best-buy table.
How to check if you have won
Premium Bonds holders can check to see if they have won a prize in November’s prize draw by using the nsandi.com prize checker, official prize checker app or their Alexa-enabled device.
Customers will need their Premium Bonds holder’s number to use the website, and their NS&I number or holder’s number to check via the prize checker app.
At the same time, they can check for any unclaimed prizes owed to them.
It’s worth noting that This is Money also publishes details of the major monthly prize winners, from £1million to £1,000.
Our tables are published on the first of every month, or the next working day if it falls on a weekend or Bank Holiday.
