Premium Bonds alert for all savers after prize allocation change

Premium Bonds savers have been issued a warning about their chances of winning a prize as millions of customers have never won anything.

Figures sourced by wealth firm AJ Bell found two thirds of savers have never won a prize, meaning 14.4 million Bond holders have won nothing.

This is despite the average saver having £5,406 in holdings. The odds of each £1 Bond winning are currently at 22,000 to one, with NS&I reducing the prize fund rate again from the April draw, now down to 3.8%.

Even if you do win some cash, your chances of winning big prizes are very small. A Freedom of Information request found that there are now more £50 and £100 prizes than £25 prizes in the winning pot, yet the vast majority of prizes in 2024 were for £100 or less.

Charlene Young, senior pensions and savings expert at AJ Bell, said: "The chance of winning any of the top prizes (from £5,000 all the way up to £1 million) remains miniscule.

"The market is still flush with cash accounts (including tax-free ISAs) paying rates higher than the Premium Bond estimated prize fund rate of 3.8%, meaning holders might benefit from shopping around to make their cash work harder.

"According to NS&I, £127.7 billion is held in Premium Bonds, meaning there is a huge amount of money making no return whatsoever when savers could otherwise be raking in more than 4.5% if they were to shop around for other products on the market."

The research found there were 5.1 million prizes allocated in the 12 months from March 2024 to February 2025, and of the winners, 80% won several times.

These lucky few had much higher holdings than the overall average, with these serial winners holding £23,397 on average.

Ms Young doubled down on the message that you may get a better return on your savings elsewhere: "There's a chance even the average holding won't win a prize, meaning savers might be better off considering other options with their cash rather than leaving it to chance in a Premium Bonds account, particularly over the long term.

"For example, if they took more risk and invested the money instead, putting that £5,406 in the Fidelity Index World global tracker fund 10 years ago, they'd be sitting on a pot worth £14,794 today, even despite the recent market falls.

"Of course the lure of Premium Bonds is that you might win the big, £1million prize, but these figures show that it's very unlikely, especially if you have a small amount saved in the Bonds."

You can hold up to £50,000 in Premium Bonds, and the more Bonds you have, the better your chance of winning.

Many people set up their accounts so if they win any prizes, the funds are automatically used to buy more Bonds. There are two £1million jackpot prizes in each monthly draw and other large prizes for £100,000 and £50,000.