National Savings and Investments
 


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Press release

CALLING ALL CAMBRIDGESHIRE PREMIUM BOND HOLDERS: NS&I IS KEEN TO TRACK DOWN THE WINNERS OF OVER 3,000 UNCLAIMED PREMIUM BOND PRIZES

17 February 2009

The hunt is on to reunite Cambridgeshire’s Premium Bond holders with the county’s 3,640 unclaimed Premium Bond prizes worth £220,100.  The unclaimed prizes range in value from £10,000 to £25.

The prizes commonly become unclaimed because people fail to pass on new addresses when they move house, they have forgotten that Bonds had been bought for them when they were a child or executors are unaware the Bonds are held when someone dies. Over a third (37%)1 of people who have lost touch with their savings have moved home and failed to tell all their financial providers their new address . Half (50%) say they find it difficult to remember all of the accounts they have opened over the years.

Top five missing winners in Cambridgeshire

Winning Bond number

Prize value

Gender

Present Premium Bond holding

11TN585029

£10,000

Male

£3,002

81TP471572

£1,000

Male

£5,085

6EL670843

£1,000

Female

£5

3BW521177

£1,000

Female

£3

11LL016279

£1,000

Female

£55

 

How to check?

There are two ways to check for an unclaimed prize:

Online at www.nsandi.com

The Premium Bond prize checker is on the home page of the NS&I website at www.nsandi.com – customers simply need to enter their Premium Bond holder’s number into the search facility.

In writing to NS&I

Premium Bonds
National Savings and Investments
Blackpool
FY3 9YP

No time limit

There is no time limit on claiming prizes and each unclaimed prize is held until the winner can be tracked down.  The oldest unclaimed prize dates back to November 1957 for the sum of £25.

Sally Swait, Premium Bond manager at NS&I said: “Following the expense of Christmas, and with the credit card bills just starting to arrive through peoples doors, tracing unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes may prove to be a welcome source of extra money for some.”

“We urge anyone who believes they could have unclaimed prizes to check with us. The easiest way is to use our website and there is no time limit on claiming the prizes.”

Ends

Notes to Editors

How do Premium Bond prizes become unclaimed?

Research from NS&I shows that people can easily lose track of their savings and investments over time for a number of different reasons.

Moving home

Over a third (37%1) of people who have lost touch with their savings have forgotten to tell all their financial providers their new address.

Multiple providers

It is easier to forget to tell a financial provider because the majority of Brits have savings and investments with a number of providers  - over two thirds (64%)1 have a relationship with up to three different providers, while nearly a fifth (16%) have between four and six different providers.

Childhood savings

A quarter (28%)1 of those who have lost touch with their savings think they have lost touch with money they had from childhood.

Estates

Unless Executors are aware that the deceased has Premium Bonds, any prizes won in the year after death may remain unclaimed without the correct forwarding details.

* free of UK income tax and capital gains tax

1.   Research carried out by TNS PhoneBus, 5 - 14 December 2008 among 2,002 adults aged 16+. 

2.   Premium Bond prizes are classified as unclaimed if they have not been claimed 18 months after the prize draw in which they were won.

3.   For further information on unclaimed Premium Bond prizes including data for other regions, please contact the NS&I media team. 

4.   Pictures of ERNIE, Agent Million and buying Premium Bonds online are available in high-resolution jpeg format from the NS&I media team.

5.   NS&I has a number of spokespeople available for interviews and our experienced radio team is available via our ISDN line: 020 7602 4522.

Media team
NS&I has a number of spokespeople available for interviews and our experienced radio team is available via our ISDN line: 020 7602 4522.

The numbers below are for media use only. Customers wishing to contact NS&I can find details here.

Gareth Headon 020 7348 9494
gareth.headon@nsandi.com
Gill Stephens 020 7348 9449
gill.stephens@nsandi.com
Iman Asante 020 7348 9301
iman.asante@nsandi.com
Monica Del-Villar 020 7348 9654
monica.del-villar@nsandi.com

ISDN for interviews

020 7602 4522

Out of hours

All numbers above diverted to staffed mobile phones
 

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