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Premium Bonds

Are they worth it?

Martin Lewis
Martin Lewis | Edited by Helen Saxon
Updated 1 May 2024

Line up everyone with £1,000 worth of Premium Bonds in order of their year's winnings, and the person halfway along would have won... not a penny! In fact, you'd need to walk past 60% of the line until you hit the first £25 winner.

Premium Bonds are the UK's biggest savings product, with more than 24 million people saving over £123 BILLION in them. But the prize rate recently dropped to 4.4% in March, and with other savings paying more than 5%, should you still be buying them? MoneySavingExpert.com's Martin Lewis uses exclusive statistical analysis to tackle the big question – are Premium Bonds worth it?

This guide was originally written by Martin Lewis, and is now updated by the MSE Money Team.
 

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  1. What are Premium Bonds?

    NS&I Premium Bonds are a savings account you can put money into (and take out when you want), where the interest paid is decided by a monthly prize draw. You buy £1 bonds and each has an equal chance of winning, so the more you buy, the more your chances improve.

    NS&I spices up the draw by personifying its IT equipment – it calls it Ernie (Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment). In reality, it's a simple, audited, random number generator. 

    The distribution of prizes changes each month. Calculating the precise odds of winning is incredibly complicated, but your chances of winning the £1,000,000 jackpot in any given month with just one bond are roughly one in 60 billion, while the likelihood of you winning nothing is a virtual certainty.

    According to NS&I, the odds of winning at least £25 – the lowest prize possible – are one in 21,000.

    Below is a table of the typical current distribution:

    Premium Bonds prize pool

    Prize amount Number of winners per month
    £1 million 2
    £100,000 87
    £50,000 173
    £25,000 346
    £10,000 867
    £5,000 1,734
    £1,000 18,137
    £500 54,411
    £100 2,174,172
    £50 2,174,172
    £25 1,464,473
    £0 123,659,449,038

    Prize breakdown for May 2024 

    Martin Lewis: How Premium Bonds work

    The clip below has been taken from The Martin Lewis Money Show on 3 December 2020, courtesy of ITV Studios Ltd, and lasts three minutes and 50 seconds. All rights reserved. You can turn on subtitles by selecting the keyboard image on the bottom right of the video.

    Just bear in mind the savings rates and prize rate mentioned have changed. For the most up-to-date rates, see our Savings guides.

    Martin Lewis explains how the Premium Bond prize rate works and who it is best for
    Embedded YouTube Video

    How do I buy Premium Bonds?

    The easiest way is online through the NS&I website.

    • Minimum purchase amount: £25 for one-off purchases and monthly standing orders.
    • Maximum amount you can hold: £50,000.
    • Age limit: Over 16 to buy them; under that age they may be held in the name of under-16s by parents or guardians. Anyone can now purchase Premium Bonds for under-16s, then nominate the child's parent or guardian to hold them.

    In general, you need to hold the bonds for a full month before they're eligible to win. So buy bonds any time in June and they'll be in the draw from August. If you're moving money over from other savings, it's best to do it in the last week of the month, as that way you minimise the time the money's not earning interest and also not in a draw for Premium Bonds.

    The exception to this is if you reinvest your prizes – these bonds will be in the draw from the month after you win. So let's say you won £25 in June and had reinvesting set up – the new £25 worth of bonds would be in July's draw.

    Bonds continue to be eligible until you cash them in, which can be at any time. You can cash in by making a request online, or by phone or post. It'll take up to three working days for you to get the cash from the time the request is received by NS&I.

    • What happens if I save more than £50,000?

      The maximum holding limit of £50,000 is strictly enforced – if for any reason you've more invested and NS&I catch on (for example, due to different spellings of names or other missing information), it will repay any surplus back to your nominated bank account, although you may have to repay any prizes won in that time via bonds that were ineligible because of the maximum holding limit being exceeded. These prizes are then reallocated to the next eligible bond drawn in the relevant month's draw.

  2. Are Premium Bonds tax free?

    Premium Bond prizes (the interest) are paid tax-free. However, for many savers that's no longer a bonus.

    Since 2016, the personal savings allowance (PSA) has meant all savings interest is automatically paid tax-free. You only need to pay tax on it if you're a basic 20% rate taxpayer earning more than £1,000 interest a year, a higher 40% rate taxpayer earning more than £500 interest a year, or a top 45% rate taxpayer.

    At today's top easy-access rate, a basic-rate payer would need just under £20,000 of savings to generate that – so if you've less, Premium Bonds don't have a tax advantage.

    For those who will pay tax, there is a decent advantage of Premium Bonds as prizes do not count towards the PSA, so it's almost an extra allowance in its own right (assuming you win something, of course).

  3. The average return on Premium Bonds is 4.4%, but you won't earn that even  with average luck

    The nearest thing Premium Bonds have to an interest rate is their annual prize rate, which is currently 4.4%. The interest rate describes the 'average' payout, but it's just a vague watermark.

    It describes the 'mean' average, indicating that for every £100 paid into bonds, on average £4.40 a year is paid out – yet in practice this is impossible, as the smallest prize is £25.

    In fact, if 20 people each had £100 invested for a year, for one to win £25+, the remaining 19 would have to win nothing.

    A far better indication of what someone with typical luck would win is the 'the person halfway along' measure. Those who can dredge up their school maths will remember this is called the median.

    Why the Premium Bond prize rate isn't what you'll win

    To show you why using the 'mean' average isn't a good description of what most people will win, let me use an extreme example…

    Imagine I sold a million people a £1 lottery ticket, and then paid just one winner a million pounds.

    I could argue, mathematically, that the average (mean) payout was £1, so on average everyone got their money back. This, of course, is bonkers.

    Almost everyone wins nothing – which is the median average – as if you lined them all up and asked, the midway person would've won nowt.

    So to really see average luck, you need to focus on this 'median' average returns figure. And for the rest of this guide, whenever I refer to average luck, that's what I mean.

    With Premium Bonds, for every person who wins £1 million, a lot of people have to win nothing. So the median average will always be lower than the mean average. This means that, with average luck, most people will win less than the prize rate each year, regardless of how many bonds they hold.

  4. As NS&I is Government-owned, savings there are as safe as it gets, but these days almost all UK savings are protected anyway

    With Premium Bonds there is no risk to your capital – so the money you put in is totally safe – it is only the 'interest' that is a gamble. And as Premium Bonds are operated by National Savings and Investments (NS&I) which, rather than being a bank, is backed by the Treasury, this capital is as safe as it gets.

    This safety used to be a big boon because you didn't get the same protection with other savings. However, under the savings safety rules all UK-regulated savings accounts are now protected up to £85,000 per person, per institution by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) – and the maximum you can put in Premium Bonds is £50,000.

    In practice, isn't NS&I still safer though?

    Technically yes, as there is one difference. As NS&I is owned by the Government, it simply won't go bust. Well, unless the Government itself goes bust that is, in which case we'll have bigger problems.

    Other savings institutions may go bust, and if this happened, if no rescue measures succeeded, in that extreme event you'd have to claim back your capital and interest from the FSCS.

    The FSCS aims to usually pay out on savings within seven days. So yes, arguably there are tiny safety benefits from NS&I as it should never go bust. Therefore there could never be a situation where you have to wait to get your money (as there could be for a few days with other savings).

  5. If you won't earn over the personal savings allowance, and have average luck, Premium Bonds are unlikely to beat top savings

    The personal savings allowance means that basic-rate taxpayers can earn £1,000 of interest a year tax-free (£500 for higher-rate taxpayers, nothing for additional-rate taxpayers).

    So that makes the Premium Bond rate very easy to compare with other savings (rates correct at 1 March). Let's start by simply using the prize fund rate of 4.4%.

    The Premium Bond rate sits comfortably alongside these savings rates, but the prize rate's almost irrelevant to what you actually win, so the question still stands: "Should I move cash to Premium Bonds or savings?"

    Let's stick with the prize rate for now (even though in practical terms it is almost impossible to win some of these amounts) and see how it compares in real terms with the best on the market.

    How Premium Bonds compare with savings over a year

    Account £1,000 saved – what you'll earn £5,000 saved – what you'll earn £20,000 saved – what you'll earn
    Premium Bonds (1) £44 £220 £880
    Top easy-access savings
    		 £50.10 £258 £1,032
    Top easy-access ISA £50.90 £254.50 £1,018
    One-year fixed savings £52.60 £263 £1,052
    Two-year fixed ISA £47 £235 £940
    (1) Someone with average luck is actually likely to win less than this, and the prize distribution means you can't actually win these amounts. Rates correct at March 2024.

    As you can see, Premium Bonds can still be beaten by savings rates, and that's when I exaggerate what they're likely to pay by utilising the prize rate. As I explained earlier, if you have average luck you won't win as much as the 4.4% prize rate.

    When we compare Premium Bonds against simple top standard savings, you're actually more likely to get more for your money with savings than Premium Bonds if you have average luck.

    So overall, the summary is Premium Bonds can beat normal easy-access savings, but you'll need to have above average luck to ensure that comes true – and for most, guaranteed interest from savings is the better option.

  6. If you pay tax on your savings, and have average luck, Premium Bonds become a slightly better bet

    Premium Bonds are a slightly better bet for those with larger amounts of savings, especially if you're a higher- or top-rate taxpayer. This is because if you've used up your personal savings allowance (PSA) on normal savings – so you earn over £1,000 of interest a year as a basic-rate taxpayer or over £500 for higher-rate taxpayers – then all savings above that are taxed at your income tax rate.

    That means a basic-rate taxpayer only gets 80% of their interest, a higher-rate 60% and a top-rate taxpayer 55%. Yet money made from Premium Bonds, like cash ISAs, is always tax-free and does not count towards the PSA, so it's almost like an extra allowance.

    Let's start by simply using the Premium Bond prize fund rate of 4.4% – even though, as explained already, most people won't win that much. 

    How Premium Bonds compare with savings rates if you pay tax on your interest

    Amount saved Within PSA / non-taxpayers Basic-rate tax Higher-rate tax Top-rate tax
    Premium Bonds (1) 4.4% 4.4% 4.4% 4.4%
    Top easy-access savings 5.16% 4.13% 3.1% 2.84%
    Top easy-access ISA 5.09% 5.09% 5.09% 5.09%
    One-year fixed savings
    		 5.26%
    		 4.21%
    		 3.16%
    		 2.89%
    Two-year fixed ISA 4.7% 4.7% 4.7% 4.7%
    (1) Someone with average luck is actually likely to win less than this. Rates correct at 1 March 2024.

    So overall, the higher tax band you're in, and the more money you're saving in Premium Bonds, the better a bet they look for you. Here, Premium Bonds do start to look attractive for savers – though remember this table uses a mean average, not the median, so most people will win much less. You're likely better off saving in a boring old cash ISA if you pay tax on your savings. 

  7. Of course you may have better than average luck, but don't bank too hard on winning the jackpot...

    While we've consistently mentioned people with average luck, it is impossible to ignore the fact that some will have better than average luck, and indeed that does need to be factored in to your decision.

    Certainly if there is only a marginal difference in the amount you are likely to earn from savings compared with Premium Bonds, then you can factor in "the chance of winning large" as an additional fringe benefit of Premium Bonds, and it wouldn't be too bad to let that sway your decision marginally.

    Equally you may decide that you like a punt, and even if the odds aren't great, putting a non-substantial portion of your savings into Premium Bonds isn't too bad an idea. But I would always use the Premium Bonds Calculator first to see what your real chances are.

    And you do even have a chance of winning £1 million; then again you could also toss a coin and see it land on its edge.

    Your chance of winning the jackpot per ticket on the National Lottery is one in 45 million in a week, far outstripping the one in more than 60 BILLION chance of becoming a millionaire through one single Premium Bond in a month. Of course though, the more bonds you have, the more chance you have of winning.

    • How do I claim a prize if I win?

      The simplest way is to make sure you're registered for NS&I's online and phone service, in which case you'll automatically get an email or text if you win. If you don't have an email address or mobile number, contact NS&I on 08085 007007 to discuss your options.

      Prizes are paid directly into your nominated bank account, or automatically reinvested into more Premium Bonds, depending on what option you chose when signing up – you can check and change your preference using NS&I's prize option service, or by filling out this form and sending it to NS&I, Sunderland, SR43 2SB.

      If you don't have a bank account set up, you will instead be sent a cheque to your registered address. It's therefore crucial to make sure you keep your contact details up to date, and particularly if you move address, be sure to notify NS&I.

      Prizes that are not claimed by their rightful recipient at the time of the draw are held by NS&I until that person comes forward. If it transpired that the bond holder was not eligible for that draw, NS&I would allocate the prize to the next eligible bond holder.

  8. The most powerful psychological sell of Premium Bonds is that interest is called winning

    This lottery-effect hooks you into the unlikely dream of bagging a million-pound prize.

    I often hear excited comments about winners such as: "My friend wins £50 every few months!" Yet someone with £10,000 worth of bonds should win £350+ a year – that's £50 every few months.

    Don't just rely on your memory of what you won, though. The win effect means people remember the good months. Take a look and calculate what you're actually winning to see how it'd compare with top savings – and how good your luck has been.

  9. Premium Bonds are still unlikely to beat inflation at the current rate

    If you save money anywhere and it doesn't grow as quickly as prices are rising, then in real terms your savings are actually shrinking, not growing. Inflation is the measure of prices rising, so if your savings pay more than inflation then they're growing, if not they're shrinking.

    Inflation has fallen recently and in December 2023, the premium bond prize fund rate found itself above the Consumer Price Index for the first time since March 2021. However, as mentioned enough times above, you need to have above average luck to see returns equivalent to or better than the prize rate, so you're still not likely to be able to beat inflation through Premium Bonds.

     

  10. Most can opt to resave winnings, so the gain compounds (hopefully)

    When you win with Premium Bonds, rather than taking the cash, you can simply arrange for the money to be reinvested (unless you already hold the maximum £50,000). In other words, your winnings will buy more bonds. That increases your holding, and therefore increases your chances of winning.

    If you are going to put money in Premium Bonds and you don't need the cash, then this is a sensible move, as it is effectively like compound interest in a normal savings account. The hope is you get growth on the growth (or here, prizes on the prizes).

  11. There's over £88 million in unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes, so check if you're owed...

    You can check if any are yours via the NS&I website – there's no time-limit to claims, so you can go back as far as you like.

    You'll need your Premium Bond holder's number – just enter this on the website linked to above. You can choose to check the latest draw, the last six months, or any unclaimed prizes.

    For full information and other ways to claim if you don't know all your Premium Bond details, see our Unclaimed Premium Bond prizes MSE News story.

  12. Premium Bonds can't be passed on if you die, but what they're worth will be

    Premium Bonds can't be passed on. If a Premium Bond holder dies, the bonds only remain eligible to win for 12 months. So the only way to pass them on is to cash them in and then that forms part of the deceased's estate. The executor will need to cash the bonds in to be able to distribute them to the beneficiaries.

    However, if prizes were won before the 12-month limit, they can still be claimed with no time-limit.

    Premium Bonds aren't inheritance tax free, so if the capital tied up in them forms part of the estate and is passed on, they may be taxed (see our Inheritance tax guide for when you might need to pay).

    Another potential snag I've heard of is that you may need to get probate on the bondholder's estate if the Premium Bond holding is over £5,000, even if it's not needed to release the rest of the estate's assets held with other organisations. For more, see NS&I's guide.

  13. Are Premium Bonds a good investment?

    Look at Premium Bonds with a clinical financial eye and they're only a good bet as a serious place to put savings if you're lucky, or if you're a higher- or top-rate taxpayer who has used up their personal savings allowance, cash ISA allocation, and put the maximum in today's top 5.16% savings account (though here I'd argue putting money in fixed-rate accounts is likely to be better than Premium Bonds).

    But Premium Bonds are all about your mentality. They do protect your cash, so even if the returns don't look a good bet, it's fine to put a non-significant portion of your money in them, provided you're aware it's more for fun than returns. Before deciding, use the calculator to look at the real odds. If you're willing to take the gamble after that, then it's fine.

    Many people often think: "I'm likely to get about 4.4% and there's a small chance of winning a million". But the main point is that this isn't correct. You're actually likely to get quite a lot less than 4.4%, and there's a negligible chance of winning a million. If you know and you're OK with this, then investing in Premium Bonds isn't a bad plan.
     

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