A £100,000 prize belonging to a female bond holder in Manchester is still unclaimed almost three years after the draw took place.
Across the country, there are over 898,000 unclaimed bonds, with a total value of £44million.
Treasury-backed provider NS&I (National Savings and Investments) has urged claimants to check their forgotten Premium Bonds and come forward.
Over a third of the UK population has more than £45 million invested in Premium Bonds across the UK.
Every eligible bond is entered into a monthly prize draw and investors forgo interest in order to have the chance to win tax-free prizes.
Jill Waters, NS&I’s operations manager, told PA: “Prizes can become unclaimed when people move house, or forget 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.”
Bond holders can make themselves easier to trace by signing up online at nsandi.com where they can opt to have cash paid directly into their account after being notified by email.
The two largest prizes left unclaimed are worth £100,000 and belong to women in London and Manchester.
A Premium Bond is a lottery bond, where bonds are purchased and entered into a regular prize draw.
The government promise to buy them back, on request, for their original price – however winners picked out by the computer can collect between £25 and £1,000,000.
Picture courtesy of Images of Money, with thanks.
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