01 December 2023 , 08:51
962
0
Premium Bond results for December 2023 have been announced today including the winners of two £1million prizes.
The first £1million prize went to one lucky person living in York. They hold £49,976 in Premium Bonds and bought their winning bond 481BJ590233 two years ago, in December 2021.
The second £1million winner is from Essex with the bond number 28FD335334. Their winning bond was purchased in March 2000 and they have £14,600 invested in Premium Bonds.
Premium Bonds are a savings product by National Savings & Investment (NS&I) but they don't work like a regular savings account. Instead of getting guaranteed money back on your savings, the interest is paid through a monthly prize draw.
This means it works a bit like a lottery, so it is down to luck whether you'll win anything - and some months, you may not win anything at all. You get a unique bond number for every £1 invested and each month, you can win between £25 and £1million.
Five cost of living household trends to follow this year to save money
There are just two £1million prizes up for grabs each month. In comparison, more than one million £25 prizes were handed out in December and there were 4.7 million £50 and £100 prizes. Anything you win is tax-free.
The minimum amount you can have invested in Premium Bonds is £25, and the maximum is £50,000. If you need to withdraw your funds, you can cash in all or part of your Premium Bonds at any time.
Andrew Westhead, NS&I Retail Director, said: “A very big well done and congratulations to this month’s millionaires from York and Essex. We hope they each enjoy their jackpot win from ERNIE, just in time to make this Christmas season extra special. It’s been a bumper year for Premium Bonds and we end 2023 with more than 63 million prizes drawn, worth over £4.6 billion."
Have you won big on Premium Bonds and want to share your story? Let us know by emailing: mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk
How to check if you're a winner
The easiest way to see if you've won is to use the NS&I prize checker online, or the Premium Bonds prize checker app. Customers can choose to have their prizes paid into their bank account, or to have them reinvested into new Premium Bonds.
You should be emailed or sent a text message from NS&I if you've won. The odds of a bond winning each month are 21,000 to 1 for every £1 bond - but as we've mentioned above, most prizes are for smaller amounts.
NS&I increased its prize rate from 4% to 4.65% from its September 2023 draw - the highest level since March 1999. NS&I previously said it estimates an extra £66million will be added to the prize fund from this month, with 269,000 extra prizes up for grabs.
However, the jackpot prize of £1million is still awarded to only two winners.