02 January 2024 , 08:40
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Premium Bond results for January 2024 have been announced today - and two lucky people are starting the New Year £1million richer.
The first £1million winner lives in Warwickshire and they hold £20,083 in Premium Bonds. They bought their winning bond 546JZ698132 in July 2023. The second £1million winner is from Nottingham with the bond number 352SX574068. Their winning bond was purchased in February 2019 and they have £49,575 invested in Premium Bonds.
Premium Bonds are a savings product by National Savings & Investment (NS&I) but instead of earning a set amount of interest, you're entered into a monthly prize draw. This means it is down to luck whether you'll win anything - and some months, you may not win anything at all.
There are just two £1million prizes handed out each month, versus millions of much smaller prizes. The lowest prize you can win is £25 - but again, it isn't guaranteed that you'll win anything at all. The January draw saw 1,037,784 people win £25, while 2,363,105 people won £50 and 2,363,105 people won £100.
A total of 91 people won the second biggest prize of £100,000 and 182 people won £50,000. You get a unique bond number for every £1 invested, and you can invest from £25 up to £50,000 in total in Premium Bonds. If you need to withdraw your funds, you can cash in all or part of your Premium Bonds at any time.
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Andrew Westhead, NS&I Retail Director, said: “Congratulations to our first millionaires of 2024 from Warwickshire and Nottingham - a wonderful way to welcome the New Year in. The quickest way to check if you have won a prize is to use our Premium Bonds prize checker app, check online, or even ask Alexa from the second working day of each month onwards. New Year is also a good time to check that NS&I has your up-to-date details and to get winnings paid straight into your bank account, so that any of your prizes don’t go unclaimed this year.”
Have you won big on Premium Bonds and want to share your story? Let u s 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.