The Welsh HGV driver who won £100k in Halifax’s Savers Prize Draw

Timothy Davies is 61 and lives in Llanelli with his partner, Amy and his daughter. He has worked as an HGV driver for over 40 years.

An HGV driver from Wales will be celebrating in style this Christmas after winning £100,000 in Halifax’s latest Savers Prize draw.

Timothy Davies, 61, from the town of Llanelli, in Dyfed, couldn’t believe his luck when a bank staff member in Halifax’s Llanelli branch told him he was the winner of the £100,000 prize.

Mr Davies said: ‘I have never won anything in my life and I never thought I stood a chance of winning.

‘I am shocked and completely over the moon – my partner didn’t believe me! 

The Halifax Savers Prize Draw rewards over 1,600 savers every month, with the bank offering three prizes worth £100,000, and 100 worth £1,000 as well as 1,500 worth £100.

The draw is now in its tenth year and over the past decade, Halifax has paid prize money of over £75 million to nearly 160,000 customers, with over £6 million won in 2021 alone.

It is one of a selection of bank and building society savings lotteries, as we detail below, which have been set up in the wake of the huge popularity of Premium Bonds.

Despite being overwhelmed by the experience, Mr Davies is not short of ideas on how to spend the money.

He added: ‘I plan to use the money to help with my daughter’s education and purchase a buy-to-let to help me when I retire.

‘I will also use it to pay for laser treatment on my eyes and I hope to plan some travel. In the meantime, we are planning an extra special Christmas this year.’

Mr Davies added: ‘I am truly overwhelmed to receive £100,000 and I want to thank everyone at Halifax.’  

The Halifax Savers Prize Draw rewards over 1,600 savers every month, with prizes ranging from £100 all the way to £100,000.

The savings prize draws 

Halifax current account customers can register through online banking or by visiting a local branch for its savings draw,

NS&I pays out around three million tax-free prizes ranging from £25 to £1million every month to Premium Bond holders

But there is one barrier to overcome as they’ll need to hold £5,000 or more in savings for a whole month to be entered into the following month’s prize draw.

The £5,000 can be made up of multiple pots across any Halifax savings account including cash Isas, although children’s accounts are excluded.

Furthermore, any savings in joint accounts will be split equally with all account holders needing to register separately.

When it comes to monthly prize draws, NS&I’s Premium Bonds will likely be the first product that comes to most people minds.

The Premium Bond draw has been running since 1956 and there are now 21.1million Premium Bond holders holding more than 113 billion eligible £1 bonds between them.

NS&I pays out around three million tax- free prizes ranging from £25 to £1million every month to Bond holders. 

A lesser known alternative to Premium Bonds is the Family Building Society’s Windfall Bonds.

Family Building Society’s Windfall Bonds, which began in 2015, have £127million stashed away in them and only a few thousand customers

Premium Bonds only require a minimum investment of £25 to enter the draw, whilst Windfall Bonds require a far heftier £10,000 deposit.

However, there is no maximum cap on Windfall Bonds, subject to availability, whereas with Premium Bonds you can deposit a maximum of £50,000.

There are currently 12,700 Windfall Bond accounts, each holding £10,000 – but many bond holders have more than one account.

Each qualifying £10,000 bond is entered into a free draw for a chance to win one of 21 monthly prizes. There are fifteen worth £1,000, three worth £2,500, two worth £10,000 and one £50,000 prize. 

TSB and Nationwide also offer customers the chance to take part in a monthly prize draw.

Each month TSB is awarding five prizes of £1,000 and fifty prizes of £100 to randomly selected customers who enter the draw.

There will be six draws, the first of which will be awarded this month, with the money paid directly into customers’ savings pots.

To enrol, current account customers need to put money into a ‘savings pot’ within their Spend & Save, or Spend & Save Plus current account.  

Nationwide members benefit from a monthly prize draw split into 8,008 prizes, with one worth £100,000, two worth £25,000, five worth £10,000 and the rest all worth £100.

Unlike, with Halifax, Nationwide members are automatically opted in, so as long as you hold a mortgage, savings account or current account with Nationwide, there is nothing to do. 

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk