September’s Premium Bond winners have been revealed – have you struck lucky?
The winning September Premium Bonds have been revealed with over three million prizes up for grabs and two new millionaires
Two lucky Premium Bond holders have scooped the top £1million tax-free prize in September's draw.
The women - from Essex and Northamptonshire - become the 393rd and 394th Premium Bond holders to scoop the jackpot since the prize was introduced.
The woman from Essex purchased her winning Bond in May 2003 and currently has £31,575 invested. The winning Bond number is 033BV820007.
The woman from Northamptonshire has £50,000 invested and bought the winning Bond in August 2015.
The winning Bond number is 254PS792183.
Both women will receive a personal visit from Agent Million who will break the good news.
How do Premium Bonds work?
PREMIUM Bonds are a savings account you can put money in (and take money out when you want), where the interest paid is decided by a monthly prize draw.
You buy £1 bonds and each has an equal chance of winning, so the more you buy, the more your chances improve.
Premium Bonds can be bought via standing order for as little as £50 per month once an account has been opened.
- Minimum purchase amount: £100 (or £50 for monthly standing orders).
- Maximum amount you can hold: £50,000.
- Age limit: Over 16 to buy them; under that age they may be held in the name of the under-16 by parents or guardians. Grandparents or great-grandparents can nominate the child’s parent or guardian to hold them.
The winners are picked by a random number generating computer called Ernie (Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment).
Alun Williams, assistant director at NS&I, said: “People purchase Premium Bonds for a number of different reasons, some to win regular tax-free prizes and some to be in with a chance of winning the jackpot £1 million prize.
"ERNIE, responsible for drawing the numbers that make up the three million plus prizes that are paid out every month, has made a Premium Bonds millionaire in every county now.”
In total, 3,117,186 prizes worth £89,099,575 will be paid out from September's draw.
Customers can find out if they have been successful by downloading the prize checker app for free from the App Store or Google Play, or by using .
The results will be published in full on Tuesday 4 September.
Unclaimed Premium Bond prizes
There are over 1.5 million unclaimed Premium Bond prizes in the UK, worth almost £60 million.
In Essex, unclaimed prizes date back to February 1964. The highest unclaimed prize in the county is £25,000, won in May 2014.
This person has £2,325 invested and the winning Bond number is 135MM985708.
There are also two £10,000 prizes and three £5,000 prizes in Essex waiting to be claimed. In total, there are around 40,500 unclaimed prizes in the county, worth nearly £1.6 million.
In Northamptonshire, unclaimed prizes date back to October 1965.
The highest unclaimed prize is £5,000, waiting to be claimed by a Premium Bond holder with just £5 invested.
The draw was in November 2014 and the winning Bond number is 6EL220580.
There is also one other £5,000 unclaimed prize in the county dating back to December 2007.
Premium Bonds prizes may go unclaimed as a result of NS&I not being informed of changes to personal circumstances, such as a change in contact details or if Premium Bonds were bought for the customer as a child and they have subsequently lost track of them.
Make sure you keep NS&I up to date if anything changes.
Nearly two million Premium Bond holders have opted to have their prizes paid directly into their bank account, including this month’s jackpot winner in Northamptonshire.
Having future prizes paid directly into your bank account makes it easier and means prize money is received sooner.
Customers can opt to have their prizes paid directly into their bank account or to have their prizes automatically reinvested into their Premium Bonds account, as long as the total holding is below the maximum threshold of £50,000.
MORE ON MONEY STORIES
Check to see if you were one of the winners from August's prize draw.
Or have a look at these other great ways to make some cash, including free lotteries and savings accounts.
And if you want guaranteed returns, it might be worth looking at a two-year fixed rating savings account.
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