Millions in Premium Bonds prizes available as odds increase

Other cash prizes on offer on the draw include £100,000, £50,000 and £25,000. NS&I increased the prize fund rate for Premium Bonds in September, from 1.4 percent to 2.2 percent.One woman who has invested more than £10,000 in Premium Bonds said she continually won prizes, with the biggest prize of £125.The recent change meant the odds of each £1 Premium Bond number winning a prize improved from 24,500 to one to 24,000 to one.The change also increased the number of people able to win the £100,000 cash prize from 10 in September to 18 in October.A person can improve their chances of winning by purchasing more Premium Bonds, and winnings can be reinvested into more Bonds.READ MORE: Mortgage holders who are ‘worried about rates’ urged to make important check or risk fee Interest rates for savings accounts have stayed low despite the base rate continually increasing (Image: Premium Bonds holders can win prizes every month)If a person has won, they are usually contacted by NS&I, although sometimes the provider is not able to contact the winner.This may be due to people moving or changing their contact details without letting NS&I know and this can lead to unclaimed prizes.People can check if they have won by putting in their details on the prize checker app on the NS&I website.A person can check this from their mobile or voice apps and people can also use Amazon Alexa to check if they have won. Rising inflation means the value of cash continues to decline (Image: GETTY)She said: ‘When I divorced, I decided that I didn’t want to buy another property and a friend of mine said to me to put this extra cash that I had into them.’I’m glad I did! I have pretty much won something every month this year bar two months overall. I actually get a little bit annoyed when I don’t win now.’She said she doesn’t have a method for her approach to Premium Bonds and relies entirely on her good fortunes.She said: ‘I don’t know if it’s true, but I was told a long time ago that the art of it was to take £5,000 out, leave it a week and then get a new lot of numbers because apparently, you have more chance of winning if you have new numbers.’If I’m honest, I’ve never done that, I have just bought mine and left them. I then just check the app every month and see if I’ve won anything.’