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Two lucky Premium Bond holders have each won the £1 million jackpot without hitting the £50k maximum savings limit.
The first jackpot winner, from Hertfordshire, has £15,000 in Premium Bonds and bought the winning bond in June 2021.
The second winning bond number belonged to someone from Essex. They had £25,253 in Premium Bonds and bought their winning bond number in May 2015.
Lucky winner: A bondholder with just £1,001 in his account hit the £1million jackpot in August 2021, which is one of the lowest positions to have won the prize
The popular National Savings and Investments product allows savers to save up to £50,000 in the accounts, with more than 22 million people – one in three of the UK population – holding them.
Eleven of the last 36 winners of the £1 million prize had the maximum £50,000, while three others had £49,000 or more.
In total, 24 of the last 36 winners had £30,000 in Premium Bonds or more, meaning 12 jackpot winners had less than £30,000 in the past year and a half.
So while it’s clear that the maximum amount increases a person’s chances of winning big, those with smaller positions can still get lucky.
A bondholder with just £1,001 won the £1 million jackpot in August 2021, one of the lowest positions to have won the top prize.
Out of all 494 Premium Bonds millionaires registered, only 13 others have won the £1 million jackpot with a smaller total holding.
Premium Bond Winners
| Price | Area | Value of bond |
| £1,000,000 | Hertfordshire | £15,000 |
| £1,000,000 | Essex | £25,000 |
| £100,000 | Lincolnshire | £10,000 |
| £100,000 | West Sussex | £50,000 |
| £100,000 | Warwickshire | £10,000 |
| £100,000 | Hampshire and the Isle of Wight | £10,000 |
| £100,000 | Inner London | £50,000 |
| £100,000 | Norfolk | £4,000 |
More November 2022 winners
As well as the two £1 million winners, there will be many more this month who have benefited from prizes ranging from £25 to £100,000.
As of last month, NS&I increased the prize money rate from 1.4 percent to 2.2 percent, the largest increase in more than 40 years.
This meant that for the more than 22 million people currently holding Premium Bonds, their odds of winning improved from 24,500 to 1 to 24,000 to 1.
There were over 119 billion bond numbers eligible for the November draw, paying out nearly 5 million prizes worth £219 million.
Compared to the September draw, the number of prizes of £5,000, £10,000, £25,000, £50,000 and £100,000 has almost doubled.
For example, there are now 18 prizes of £100,000, up from 10 in September, and 36 prizes of £50,000, up from 20.
Can the premium of the Premium Bond increase again?
NS&I raised the savings rate in both July and October and raised the bond premium in October.
Whether we see NS&I raise prices again will likely depend on savings rates in the broader market and how likely the government-backed bank is to meet its annual funding target.
Midway through the fiscal year, NS&I announced that it has raised £3.4 billion so far, of which £2.1 billion has been between July and September.
This means it is currently well on track to meet its ‘net funding target’ of £6bn.
A spokesman for the Savings Guru said: “Based on the current numbers I would say there is no chance of interest rate hikes, but I suspect we will see further increases as they will fall back quickly as the base moves up Thursday and back in. December.
“For example, when the premium bond increase was announced, they were a best buy compared to easy access. At 2.2 percent, they would now not make the top 10.
“I think there will be further increases, but it will only be in response to market movements to maintain current inflows as their performance numbers suggest they are on track at the moment.
‘In the end, the advice to NS&I savers still applies – there is better value and service elsewhere.’
>> View the latest easily accessible savings rates using our independent best buy chart.
How do you check if you’ve won?
Premium bond holders can check if they have won a prize in the November prize draw using the nsandi.com prize checker, the official prize checker app or their Alexa device.
Customers will need their Premium Bonds holder’s number to use the website, and their NS&I or holder’s number to verify via the price checking app.
At the same time, they can check for unclaimed prices owed to them.
It’s worth noting that This is Money also publishes details of the top monthly prize winners, ranging from £1 million to £1,000.
Our tables are published on the first of each month, or the next business day if it falls on a weekend or public holiday.
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