Premium Bonds saver wins £1 million prize in their first EVER draw

A Premium Bonds holder has started the new year with a bang after winning the biggest prize on his first attempt.

One of the coveted £1 million jackpot prizes was won by a saver in Gloucestershire who held the maximum £50,000.

It was a real case of beginner’s luck for this winner, who bought the winning bond in November 2024. January’s drawing was the first for which their bond was eligible.

The other £1m prize winner was based in Liverpool and had assets of £37,025. They purchased their winning bond in March 2022.

Other lucky winners scooped up big prizes with small assets in the first Premium Bonds prize draw of the year.

Beginner’s luck: a Premium Bonds holder based in Gloucestershire has scooped a £1 million prize in the first draw of his bond

One winner from Cornwall won £50,000 with just £100 holdings. They bought their winning bond in March 2011.

Meanwhile, another Premium Bonds holder, based in North East Scotland, also won £50,000 with a £250 holding from a bond bought in December 2013.

The odds of winning at least £50,000 with a £100 holding are one in 4.7 million, while the odds of winning this prize with a £250 holding are 1.8 million to one, analysis by This is Money.

The average holdings of the £50,000 prize winners in this month’s draw was £37,851.

The January 2025 prize draw saw a total of 5.9 million prizes worth £429 million drawn.

Premium Bond Winners

Price Area Value of the bond
£1,000,000 Liverpool £18,025
£1,000,000 Gloucestershire £17,480
£100,000 South West Wales £49,000
£100,000 Within London £10,000
£100,000 South Yorkshire £5,000
£100,000 Within London £15,000
£100,000 North Yorkshire £20,000
£100,000 Wales £10,000

Even more winners from January 2025

View the list of January 2025 winners

At this month’s draw, the premium rate for Premium Bonds – which represents the average return a Premium Bonds saver would earn in a year – was 4 percent. In November, the interest rate was reduced from 4.15 percent.

A month earlier, NS&I reduced the prize money rate from 4.4 percent to 4.15 percent.

The two consecutive interest rate cuts mean the odds of winning a Premium Bonds prize are now 22,000 to one. In the November 2024 draw they were 21,000 to one.

Andrew Westhead, NS&I retail director, said: “We are excited to start 2025 by creating our first Premium Bonds millionaires of the year in Liverpool and Gloucestershire.”

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