Over £300,000 in Premium Bonds prizes unclaimed in Warwickshire

More than £300,000 worth of Premium Bonds prizes remain unclaimed in Warwickshire.

ERNIE, the Premium Bonds random number generator, is responsible for drawing over three million prizes each month, worth more than £90 million.

Premium Bonds has revealed the unclaimed winnings as the newest machine comes into use.

Some of the prizes have remained unclaimed for over 50 years.

NS&I, who run the scheme, is now urging people to check whether they might be a winner.

How are the winners drawn?

ERNIE started the very first Premium Bonds draw on 1 June 1957, taking 30 hours to generate the winning numbers, based on the signal noise created by neon tubes.

The much-loved machine was built by the team behind the Second World War code breaker, Colossus.

31/05/57 - Post Office engineers checking 'Ernie' (Electronic Random Number Indicating Equipment) at the Premium Savings Bonds office in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, in readiness for the first Premium Savings Bonds draw. (Image: PA)

Today, the fifth incarnation of ERNIE will take over after ERNIE 4 provided 15 years of loyal service.

The popularity of Premium Bonds has soared so much so that over 78 billion Bonds are now eligible to win any of the three million prizes each month with the draw taking just 12 minutes.

Warwickshire winners

ERNIE 4 paid out 322 million prizes over the course its career, including over 2 million prizes to Warwickshire since its launch in 2004, worth over £114 million.

Additionally, Agent Million has personally visited Warwickshire five times since 2004 to hand deliver the £1 million jackpot prize.

However, there are over 10,000 prizes that are due to savers in Warwickshire that are still waiting to be claimed out of a total of £60 million in unclaimed prizes throughout the country.

Jill Waters, NS&I’s Retail Director, said: “ERNIE 4 brought prize-winning joy to Warwickshire, but there are still many prizes waiting to be united with their rightful owners.

"Prizes often become unclaimed as a result of people moving house, or forgetting that Bonds have been bought for them as a child, or executors are unaware the Bonds are held when someone dies.

“By opting to manage your Premium Bonds online you could reduce the risk of missing out on prizes as they can be paid directly into your bank account or they can be reinvested into your Premium Bonds account.”

The highest value unclaimed prizes in Warwickshire

Prize Value	Location	Current Holding Balance	Winning Bond Number	Month and Year of Draw
£10,000	Warwickshire	£780	018PW529093	January 2005
£1,000	Warwickshire	£6	002AN966676	March 1977
£1,000	Warwickshire	£1	001AW616846	January 1981
£1,000	Warwickshire	£8	001AP389244	January 1997
£1,000	Warwickshire	£55	023PP284385	September 2007

The oldest unclaimed prizes in Warwickshire

Prize Value	Location	Current Holding Balance	Winning Bond Number	Month and Year of Draw
£25	Warwickshire	£1	000AP908821	May 1967
£50	Warwickshire	£30	001KN755960	August 1967
£25	Warwickshire	£1	001AZ776346	January 1968
£25	Warwickshire	£2	003AZ883453	November 1968
£25	Warwickshire	£1	000AK574542	July 1969

There is no time limit for claiming prizes and each unclaimed prize is held until the rightful winner can be tracked down.

The oldest unclaimed prize dates back to May 1967 where a Premium Bonds holder from Warwickshire has a prize to the sum of £25 waiting to be claimed.

NS&I is calling for Premium Bonds holders to come forward to claim their prizes, and to sign-up to have their winnings paid directly into their bank accounts, or to have prizes auto-reinvested, to reduce the chances of prizes going unclaimed in future.

Over 22,000 Premium Bonds holders in Warwickshire now receive their prizes directly to their bank accounts, and a further 23,000 have opted to have their prizes reinvested into their Premium Bonds account, increasing their chances of winning further prizes.

How to check if you are owed a prize

You can either check if you're a winner online or by writing to NS&I:

Online at nsandi.com

The Premium Bonds prize checker is on the home page of the NS&I website at nsandi.com – customers simply need to enter their Premium Bond holder’s number into the search facility. Premium Bonds holders can also use the prize checker app, or check their prizes using Amazon Alexa.

In writing to NS&I, Glasgow, G58 1SB

Alternatively people can write to NS&I, quoting their name and address, any former names and addresses, date of birth and, if known, their Premium Bond holder’s number.