Premium Bonds ranked number one in UK with ‘best chance of winning’ | Personal Finance | Finance

Premium bond holders know full well that it is simply a matter of not seeing who wins the prize in the monthly draw, but the figures show which parts of the UK have been luckiest over the past year.

Numbers in OLBG compared NS&I data for winners in the last 12 months leading up to the October 2024 draw to identify the top 20 areas that fared the best

Essex was the county with the highest winning percentage at 3.84 percent. The region won the most prizes with 11,301 wins totaling £33,579,000.

In second place is another southern county, Kent, with a winning percentage of 3.49% and 10,246 wins totaling £29,431,000. It was followed by Hampshire and the Isle of Wight with a 3.4 per cent chance of winning and 9,976 wins worth £30,959,000.

Each £1 bond is entered into a monthly prize draw with an equal chance of winning a prize ranging from £25 million to £1 million. The prize money rate is currently 4.4 percent, but is down to 4.15 percent from the December draw.

These were the top 20 counties with the highest winning percentage:

1. Essex – 11,301 prizes – £33,579,000 – 3.84%
2. Kent – ​​10,246 prizes – £29,431,000 – 3.49%
3. Hampshire and Isle of Wight – 9,976 prizes – £30,959,000 – 3.40%
4. Surrey – 9,440 prizes – £28,811,000 – 3.23%
5. Outer London – 9,241 prizes – £29,804,000 – 3.16%
6. Inner London – 7,407 prizes – £20,329,000 – 2.55%
7. Hertfordshire – 7,403 prizes – £22,808,000 – 2.55%
8. Devon – 7,176 prizes – £21,987,000 – 2.47%
9. West Sussex – 6,750 prizes – £23,863,000 – 2.33%
10. Dorset – 5,990 prizes – £18,264,000 – 2.07%
11. Suffolk – 4,925 prizes – £14,602,000 – 1.71%
12. Buckinghamshire – 4,872 prizes – £14,379,000 – 1.69%
13. Lancashire – 4,631 prizes – £13,895,000 – 1.61%
14. Wiltshire – 4,359 prizes – £13,012,000 1.52%
15. Hereford and Worcester – 4,226 prizes – £11,812,000 – 1.47%
16. Cambridgeshire – 4,131 prizes – £12,481,000 – 1.44%
17. Derbyshire – 4,078 prizes – £12,413,000 – 1.42%
18. Gloucestershire – 4041 prizes – £12,573,000 – 1.41%
19. Lincolnshire – 4,012 prizes – £10,852,000 – 1.40%
20. East Sussex – 4,011 prizes – £11,676,000 – 1.40%.

Looking at other parts of the UK, Scotland had 11,327 prizes with a total prize fund of around £33.7 million, while Welsh winners had 5,393 wins with a total prize fund of £15.4 million. Northern Ireland received 2,735 prizes worth a total of £8.5 million.

You can increase your chances of winning a prize by purchasing more Bonds. You can store up to £50,000 in Premium bonds.

Many people structure their account so that if they win a cash prize, the funds will be used to buy more bonds, increasing their chances of winning again.

One saver was recently confused after receiving a £400 payment from NS&I that he did not recognise.

They asked X: “Received a random payment of £400. This seems to be related to the June/July win. Bond of the same number as the one who reported winning £100. Can you explain?

In its response, NS&I said “the same Bond number may win other prize draws even if it has been won previously.”