 are four decades old. Instead, the state-owned savings bank has done the only thing it can to unite the customer with their prize: write to an address they have on file in the Herefordshire and Worcestershire area that 37 years on might not even be the right one. Not having the correct contact information is one of the main reasons people never receive their money, explains NS&I's retail director Jill Waters. "Sometimes the winner has forgotten they have bonds and in some cases, such as those gifted to babies and children, they might not even know they had them in the first place," she says. "But most commonly, customers will move house. Letting NS&I know [your change of address] is probably not top of the list but it's the major reason for customers not receiving prizes. And it's just one of those things that you have to know it's there to claim it." Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Customers signed up for premium bonds on the first day of their availability, 1 November 1956, outside the Royal ExchangeThe Hereford and Worcester example is just one of 2,004,588 unclaimed prizes worth an enormous £68,670,200.The area is also home to one of the only three winners in England who have still not claimed the second largest prize - £100,000){kind=link}
Each month in the UK, premium bonds are entered into a draw that could net lucky holders £1m.
But while the jackpot winners have all been accounted for over the years, a huge £68m in prizes dating back as far as 1957 are still unclaimed – including three in England for £100,000.
Imagine a letter dropping on the doormat that is neither junk mail, a bill, nor a suspicious brown envelope. Instead, it’s the news that £25 worth of premium bonds bought in 1984 have finally bore fruit.
Except this £5,000 windfall might not ever reach this particular winner because their contact details with National Savings and Investments (NS&I) are four decades old.
Instead, the state-owned savings bank has done the only thing it can to unite the customer with their prize: write to an address they have on file in the Herefordshire and Worcestershire area that 37 years on might not even be the right one.