Premium Bonds savers know well that it’s purely a matter of lack who wins a prize in the monthly draw but figures have revealed which parts of the UK have had the best luck over the past year.
Number crunchers at OLBG have compared NS&I data for winners for the past 12 months until the October 2024 draw to find out the top 20 areas who have had the best luck
Essex was the county with the top win rate, at 3.84 percent. The region won the most prizes, with 11,301 winnings worth a total of £33,579,000.
In second place is another southern county, Kent, with a 3.49 percent win rate and 10,246 wins, worth a total of £29,431,000. This was followed by Hampshire and Isle of Wight, with a 3..4 percent chance of being a winner, with 9,976 wins worth £30,959,000.
Each £1 Bond goes into the monthly prize draw with an equal chance of being paired with a prize, which range from £25 to £1million. The prize fund rate is currently 4.4 percent but this is dropping to 4.15 percent from the December draw.
These were the top 20 counties with the highest win rate:
- Essex – 11,301 prizes – £33,579,000 – 3.84%
- Kent – 10,246 prizes – £29,431,000 – 3.49%
- Hampshire and Isle of Wight – 9,976 prizes – £30,959,000 – 3.40%
- Surrey – 9,440 prizes – £28,811,000 – 3.23%
- Outer London – 9,241 prizes – £29,804,000 – 3.16%
- Inner London – 7,407 prizes – £20,329,000 – 2.55%
- Hertfordshire – 7,403 prizes – £22,808,000 – 2.55%
- Devon – 7,176 prizes – £21,987,000 – 2.47%
- West Sussex – 6,750 prizes – £23,863,000 – 2.33%
- Dorset – 5,990 prizes – £18,264,000 – 2.07%
- Suffolk – 4,925 prizes – £14,602,000 – 1.71%
- Buckinghamshire – 4,872 prizes – £14,379,000 – 1.69%
- Lancashire – 4,631 prizes – £13,895,000 – 1.61%
- Wiltshire – 4,359 prizes – £13,012,000 1.52%
- Hereford and Worcester – 4,226 prizes – £11,812,000 – 1.47%
- Cambridgeshire – 4,131 prizes – £12,481,000 – 1.44%
- Derbyshire – 4,078 prizes – £12,413,000 – 1.42%
- Gloucestershire – 4,041 prizes – £12,573,000 – 1.41%
- Lincolnshire – 4,012 prizes – £10,852,000 – 1.40%
- East Sussex – 4,011 prizes – £11,676,000 – 1.40%.
Turning to others parts of the UK, Scotland had 11,327 prizes with some £33.7million in total winnings, while holders in Wales had 5,393 wins, with £15.4million in total prize funds. Northern Ireland took home 2,735 prizes worth a total of £8.5million.
You can increase your chances of winning a prize by buying more Bonds. You can hold up to £50,000 in Premium Bonds.
Many people arrange their account so should they win a cash prize, the funds are used to buy more Bonds, boosting their chance of winning again.
One saver was recently left confused as they received a £400 payment from NS&I that they didn’t recognise.
They asked over X: “Received random payment of £400. Looks like it relates to a win in June/July. Same number Bond as one that reported as £100 win. Can you explain?”
NS&I advised in its response that “it is possible for the same Bond number to win in other prize draws, even if it’s won before”.
