NS&I has responded to a person who wanted to know when to buy Premium Bonds during the month and how this would affect which prize draw they would be entered into.
X user Bhavesh Mistry (@bhav_mistry_86) asked the group: “Does it make a difference to when I buy a Premium Bond? Like 1st of month versus 31st of month.”
NS&I said in response: “Overall, no. The new Bonds you purchase would still need to be held for one full calendar month before they’re entered into draws and your chances in a draw would still remain the same.”
The user then asked the group to clarify if it would be better to buy Bonds on December 31 rather than December 1, as they would both be first eligible for the February draw.
The provider said:”Yes if you purchased Premium Bonds on either the 1st or the 31st December, they would both be eligible from the February prize draw as the bonds would need to be held for one full calendar month.
“Neither date is better, it’s just whether you would choose to hold the funds you’d like to deposit in your current account for longer.”
Each £1 Bond entered into the monthly prize draw has an equal chance of winning a prize, which range from £25 up to £1million.
A person can win several prizes in one draw and many savers choose to use their winnings to buy more Bonds, to increase their chances of winning again.
A person can hold up to £50,000 in Premium Bonds. Each time a person buys more Bonds, they have to buy at least £25 worth.
There was confusion among several customers last month when they received prize notifications three week after the October draw, which takes place at the start of the month.
People were worried the prize messages were not legitimate as they had been sent out so late after the prize draw with savers contacting NS&I to ask what had happened.
The group said: “We’re sorry due to a technical issue there was a delay in sending out the email notification. Your prize payout was not affected.”
A person can check if they have any unclaimed prizes using the prize checker tool on the NS&I website, as well as via the app or with an Alexa-enabled device.
The big prize winners for each month’s Premium Bonds draw are always published on the first working day of the month.
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