Premium Bonds holders are being urged to check their accounts as more than 2.7 million prizes remain unclaimed. Among these are a £50,000 prize in Surrey that has been sitting around since June 2019, and a huge £25,000 prize that has been waiting to be collected since 2024.

The Government-backed savings product allows Brits to invest between £25 and £50,000, which is entered into a monthly draw offering tax-free prizes ranging from £25 to £1 million, rather than earning interest. According to NS&I’s update on April 1, a total of 2,754,285 prizes have remained unclaimed for 18 months or more, totalling a staggering £118.2million in untouched winnings.

Customers can check if they have an unclaimed prize by entering their holder’s number into NS&I’s online prize checker, or using its app.

Regionally, thousands of funds remain untouched. For example, in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, there were 79,128 unclaimed prizes worth £3.3million, with some dating back as far as 1963. The largest one waiting to be collected from the region was from August 2024, when someone won £25,000.

Meanwhile, in Surrey, there were 72,849 unclaimed winnings worth £3million, also dating back to 1963. Here, the biggest forgotten prize was even larger, worth £50,000 from June 2019.

The company said the best way to avoid missing out is to have winnings paid directly into a bank account, or automatically reinvested into Premium Bonds, up to the £50,000 holding limit.

Prizes reinvested are immediately eligible for the next monthly draw. This method has become increasingly popular, with around nine in ten now paid this way.

Premium Bonds winners are usually notified each month via their chosen contact method, such as email or text, if their details are registered.

Despite the large number of unclaimed prizes, NS&I said more than 99% of winnings have been successfully paid out since the first draw in 1957.

A total of 5.9million prizes worth £376.4million will be paid out in the April 2026 prize draw. Two people have won £1million each, from Hampshire & The Isle of Wight and Surrey, while 71 people became £100,000 richer.