After the expense of Christmas the perfect start to a New Year could come in the form of a win in the premium bonds draw.
Premium bonds are an investment product issued by National Savings and Investment (NS&I), billed as a “fun way to save”, offering the chance to win tax-free prizes.
Each month premium bond holders are part of a draw with an opportunity to win prizes ranging from £25 to £1m.
Holders can expect to find out in early January if they have started the year on a winning streak.
Two lucky winners will more than cover festive expenses with the jackpot prize of £1m each, but there are plenty of small tax-free prizes up for grabs.
We take a look at when the draw is announced and what is on offer.
When is the premium bonds prize draw for January 2025?
The results of the first premium bond draw for 2025 will be available on Friday 3 January.
Winning numbers are generated by a random-number generator called Ernie.
Every £1 bond is entered into the prize draw and has the same odds of winning.
However, the more bonds you buy, the more chances you have to win.
The current odds of winning are 22,000 to 1 for every £1 bond in the monthly prize draw.
The minimum value of bonds you can buy are £25 and the maximum is £50,000.
How many people win each month?
The January 2025 Premium Bonds draw is expected to have more than £422 million in the prize fund with around 5.7 million prizes up for grabs, ranging from two £1 million prizes to more than 1.8 million £25 prizes.
In terms of winners, there will be:
- 2 x £1million
- 81 x £100,000
- 160 x £50,000
- 322 x £25,000
- 806 x £10,000
- 1,610 x £5,000
- 16,903 x £1,000
- 50,709 x £500
- 1,957,790 x £100
- 1,957,790 x £50
- 1,776.556 x £25
How can I check if I’ve won premium bonds?
To find out if you have won a prize, you can enter your bond numbers on the NSI website checker here.
You can also get the same information on the NSI app, which can be downloaded for free at the Apple App Store or Google Play for Android.
And you can find out whether you’ve been lucky in the prize draw by asking Alexa.
Look out for the premium bonds prize checker Alexa skill at Amazon.
Once the skill is enabled, you can check for prizes, find out when the next results are available and if you have any unclaimed prizes.
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