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NS&I has released a full prize breakdown for the Premium Bonds prizes for the May draw, as a lucky few take home big cash prizes. The news comes as a tax expert warned people who are not winning might want to think about whether they should keep their money in Premium Bonds.
A total of just over 5.94million prizes were paid out with a total pot of £413,900,125 being issued. NS&I reduced the prize fund rate for the savings scheme from the April draw, down from 4% to 3.8%.
The prize pot always includes two prizes for £1million but the allocation for the other prizes can vary with the prize fund rate indicating the average return for savers.
This month’s jackpot prizes were won by savers from Derbyshire and Suffolk, with winning Bond numbers 462DR240519 and 300ZZ346515 respectively.
The odds of each £1 Bond winning a prize are currently at 22,000 to one, but it’s worth noting that most of the prizes are for lower amounts, with more than 5.85 million of this month’s prizes for £100 or less.
This is how the prizes were allocated for the May draw:
- £1,000,000 – 2 prizes
- £100,000 – 79 prizes
- £50,000 – 157 prizes
- £25,000 – 315 prizes
- £10,000 – 789 prizes
- £5,000 – 1,575 prizes
- £1,000 – 16,556 prizes
- £500 – 49,668 prizes
- £100 – 1,843,199 prizes
- £50 – 1,843,199 prizes
- £25 – 2,185,611 prizes
Total value of prizes – £413,900,125
Total number of prizes – 5,941,150 prizes.
Those who have not won a prize in many months may be thinking of switching to a different savings option. Ashley Akin, tax consultant and senior contributor at Stock Screener Tips, provided an analogy to help people decide.
She said: “Ask yourself the fresh-money question: if you had that same amount sitting in your current account today, would Premium Bonds be your first choice?
“If the answer is no, inertia is driving the decision. The odds do not improve the longer you hold. Each £1 bond has the same chance every month, so a dry spell is not a sign that a win is due.
“Moving a chunk to a competitive fixed-rate or easy-access account can lock in certain interest instead of hoping for a prize that may never arrive.”
Savers may think of keeping their Bonds for now as their funds are at least completely secure, with the NS&I scheme backed by the Government.
But Ms Akin said this can be misleading, pointing out: “While the product is marketed as safe, the real risk is opportunity cost—earning less than elsewhere—and the silent bite of inflation.
“Some savers fall into the sunk-cost trap, thinking past patience somehow earns future luck. Premium Bonds work best as a side dish you review once a year, not a main course you forget on the back burner.”
