180,000 Premium Bond wins ‘lost in the post’- do you have a secret windfall?
In the past year alone, 2,431 prizes worth a combined £66,900 went undelivered
THOUSANDS of people could be missing out on Premium Bond prizes worth a combined £8.2million.
That's because more than 180,000 Premium Bond prize cheques - known as "warrants" - sent in the post have never been delivered.
Megan French, consumer expert at MoneySavingExpert.com, said: "An astounding £8million of Premium Bond prizes have been returned to NS&I, meaning bona fide winners are missing out on the cash they're owed.
"The prizes are paid by cheque as default, so if you’ve previously won but not asked for your cash to go into your bank account or be reinvested, it’s worth checking if you actually received and cashed your winnings.
"Plus, as a whopper £61million of Premium Bond prizes are currently sitting unclaimed, it’s also worth checking if you’ve won."
You can also check using the tool in the Premium Bonds iOS and Android apps.
If you don't know your Premium Bond holder's number you can find it by logging into your online account service.
Your holder's number has either ten or nine digits or eight digits followed by a letter.
Once done, log in to 'Your profile' in the top menu and click 'Paperless options'. Click 'Change' for your Premium Bonds then select 'Paperless'.
Remember to click 'Save' when you've finished. Or you can ask NS&I to set this up for you over the phone on 08085 007 007.
As of February, you can now buy Premium Bonds with less as NS&I slashes the minimum savings limit from £100 to £25.
In the Budget 2018, documents reveal that a new Premium Bonds app and prize-based savings account for credit unions is to launch.
And here are the March 2019 Premium Bond winning numbers – are you a winner?
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