It turns out that NS&I, the government-backed savings scheme, is basically a magician who forgets to tell you when he’s done a trick. They do send winners an email or a letter, if they have your correct contact details. But let’s be honest, how many of us update our address with a savings account from 2008?
Every month, over 4 million prizes are paid out. But shockingly, around £80 million worth of prizes are still unclaimed. That’s enough money to buy a small island, or at least a very large pile of avocados.
Here’s a fact that will make you laugh and cry: The average unclaimed prize is not a paltry £25. Some people have £100,000 just sitting there, waiting for them to wake up. It’s the financial equivalent of finding a winning lottery ticket under your sofa cushion, except the sofa is your entire life.
Why You Haven’t Checked (And Why You Should)
Maybe you think, “Oh, I’d remember if I won big.” Ha! You say that now, but your brain is a sieve. Consider this: one lucky winner in 2026 won £1 million but didn’t claim it for six months. Six months! They were probably still buying their own birthday cakes while that million went on vacation in a government computer.
The most ridiculous part? The bond with that million-pound prize was only £1,000 worth of bonds. So yes, a modest £1,000 stake turned into a million, and the owner was completely oblivious. That’s like buying a bag of crisps and finding it’s stuffed with diamonds.
And it gets weirder. Some unclaimed prizes date back to the very first Premium Bond draw in 1957. That’s right—someone’s great-grandma could be sitting on a fortune from the era of poodle skirts and black-and-white telly. She probably thinks her bonds are just sentimental paper now.
Yorkshire NS&I Premium Bonds jackpot winner celebrates cool £1m
