Premium Bonds saver despairs at ‘total waste’ as they win nothing in 46 years | Personal Finance | Finance
A Premium Bonds saver has voiced their frustration at winning no prizes in 46 years.
The saver contacted NS&I over X to ask if this was a common issue, slamming the initiative as a “total waste of time”.
They said: “I have had a bond for like 46 years and won nothing ever. Is this normal as seems total waste of time??”
They added tweet that they “would have been better off putting the money in a high interest bank account for 46 years as would have got some return on that instead of £0”.
A representative of NS&I explained the rules to them in response. They said: “Please note it is an essential feature of the Premium Bond scheme that winning is solely a matter of luck, and there can be no guarantee of any level of return whatever the value of the holding.
“The random nature of the prize draw means that there is no predictable pattern to the frequency or value of prize wins.”
They want on to explain that this means a person can go months without winning a prize but they can also win several prizes in a single draw.
The savings giant also said: “Currently, the odds of winning are 21,000 to 1 for every £1 Bond. This ratio remains the same for a holder of £1 as it does for one with the maximum holding of £50,000.
“The only distinction between them is that the holder of £50,000 has more ‘entries’ into the monthly draw. May I take this opportunity to wish you luck in future prize draws.”
Chris Demetriou, co-founder of Archimedia Accounts, spoke to Express.co.uk previously about how the prize draw could be made fairer.
He said: “Some ideas I’ve thought could help are capping the maximum number of Bonds held to limit very high chances of winning, combining that with a tiered prize structure, and possibly rewarding longer-term investors with a small return guarantee.
“Spreading out smaller but more frequent wins across modest and significant bondholders alike also seems a sensible adjustment.”
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