When can I check if I have won the premium bonds? How to use the NS&I prize checker for the October 2023 draw

Premium Bonds are a top choice for saving in the UK, but it's important to keep in mind that they don't guarantee a steady stream of income.

The style of investing known as this is provided by National Savings and Investment (NS&I), which is a government-owned savings bank.

Instead of receiving a typical interest rate on their cash, people who hold bonds are included in a lottery-style drawing once a month. The prizes are free of taxes and can range from £25 to £1 million.

The amount of money available for prizes has gone up a lot this year. This is because the interest rates in the UK have gone up, and the prize fund is now at its highest level in almost 25 years.

October 2023 Premium Bonds Winners: When Announced?

Typically, those who have Premium Bonds can see the outcomes of the most recent draw starting on the second day of the month.

Surprisingly, the victors are selected one day in advance - commonly on the initial day of the month.

At midnight, NS&I made public information about the biggest prizes awarded to winners who have received an amount exceeding £5,000.

Nevertheless, this varies in cases where the month commences on a weekend or holiday recognized by banks, resulting in the raffle being deferred to the subsequent business day.

Since October 1st lands on a Sunday for this year, the announcement for Premium Bonds winners will be delayed until October 2nd. This change allows Premium Bond owners to check for their winning status starting October 3rd.

Check out the upcoming dates for the Premium Bonds prize draw in 2023! As a bond holder, you can view the winning numbers the day after the draw takes place.

"Checking Premium Bond Winning Status"

If you are a holder of Premium Bonds and would like to verify if you have won a prize in the recent monthly raffle, you have the option to utilize the NS&I online prize verifier accessible through this link.

You also have the option to get the app for no cost on either iOS or Android.

If you want to check if you have won a prize through NS&I's website, you will require your holder number. This can be found on your bond record or by signing in to your account. Your holder number may consist of either nine or ten digits, or eight digits accompanied by a letter.

There's no time constraint on claiming your prizes, which means you can go as far back as the very first draw in 1957.

Based on the information from MoneySavingExpert, there are over 2 million Premium Bonds awards that haven't been claimed as of November 2021. These unclaimed bonuses have a worth of almost £75 million.

Premium Bonds owners can choose to receive their prizes either by direct payment into their bank account or by reinvesting them automatically into additional Bonds in order to lessen the chance of leaving unclaimed rewards.

According to NS&I, nearly 90% of the rewards are currently distributed through this method, and additional information can be obtained here.

Chances Of Winning Premium Bonds?

Earlier this year, the prize fund's interest rate increased from 2.2% to 3%, and later went up to 3.3%.

In the month of July, there was a rise to 3.7 percent and after that, there was another surge to 4 percent prior to the draw that took place in August.

NS&I increased the rate for the prize fund this September and it has gone up a lot to reach 4.65%, which is the largest it has been since March 1999.

This modification implies that the likelihood of a specific bond being successful has gotten better, going from 24,000/1 in July to 21,000/1, which is the highest it's been since the April 2008 drawing.

You can deposit a minimum of £25 in Premium Bonds, and the maximum amount allowed is £50,000. Over 22 million individuals possess Premium Bonds.

Additional details can be accessed at this location.