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WOMAN REINVESTS £100 PREMIUM BOND PRIZE AND SCOOPS £1 MILLION JACKPOT
01 September 2005
Second £1 million jackpot won by a young woman in Surrey
1 million other tax-free prizes worth over £68m also awarded
A woman from County Armagh has scooped one of September’s two £1 million Premium Bond jackpots with a £100 Bond bought with Premium Bond prize money earlier this year. The mystery winner, who had her £100 Premium Bond prize automatically reinvested in May 2005, has become ERNIE’s latest millionaire thanks to her reinvestment.
The other jackpot winner is a young woman from Surrey with £5,000 in Premium Bonds. The two lucky winners become ERNIE’s 139th and 140th millionaire.
Millionaire 1
A woman under 25
Living in Surrey
Bond number: 12EV801438
Bought in July 2003
Total holdings: £5,000
Millionaire 2
A woman in her 50s
Living in County Armagh
Bond number: 69RJ991612
Bought in May 2005
Total holdings: £28,350
From £100 to £1 million
The winner from County Armagh – who has chosen to remain anonymous – said: "I’m over the moon. I’ve had Premium Bonds for years and recently I’ve been building up my holding by reinvesting the prizes I win. The Bond that won was a £100 prize which was automatically reinvested for me earlier this year. I hoped it would bring me a few more prizes but I can’t believe it made me a millionaire.
"This win has put paid to any retirement worries I had; I know I’ll be comfortable and able to spoil my grandchildren too."
Surrey scoop
The winner from Surrey is also keeping their identity a closely-guarded secret. The winners were told last night in person by NS&I’s Agent Millions – M1 and M2 – the mystery people who pay a personal visit to the jackpot winners to give them the good news.
M1, who visited the winner in Surrey last night, commented: "I often see a real range of emotions when I go to deliver the good news to the winner but disbelief is always one of the first. Last night was no exception, it was a bit of a shock at first but by the time I left it had started to sink in. The winner wasn’t sure what she would do with the money yet, but there was talk of splitting it with her family."
This is only the second month where NS&I has given away two £1 million tax-free jackpots. The second jackpot was introduced in August and this is the first major change since April 1994 when the first £1 million jackpot prize was introduced.
Regional facts
This is Surrey’s thirteenth £1 million Premium Bond jackpot winner since the top prize was introduced in 1994. In Surrey, almost 540,000 people own Premium Bonds worth more than £960 million. There are approximately 9,000 unclaimed prizes in the county, worth almost £570,000.
This is County Armagh’s first ever £1 million Premium Bond jackpot winner since the top prize was introduced in 1994 – and only Northern Ireland’s third. In County Armagh, approximately 22,000 people own Premium Bonds worth more than £17 million. There are over 200 unclaimed prizes in the area, worth almost £15,000.
In September’s draw ERNIE gave away over one million prizes worth over £68 million.
Number and value of prizes awarded in September 2005
| £1million |
2 |
| £100,000 |
6 |
| £50,000 |
10 |
| £25,000 |
22 |
| £10,000 |
56 |
| £5,000 |
110 |
| £1,000 |
1,632 |
| £500 |
4,896 |
| £100 |
56,659 |
| £50 |
1,070,235 |
|
|
| Prize value |
Number of prizes |
| £68,017,650 |
1,133,628 |
Premium Bond Facts
The Premium Bond prize fund rate is 3.00% tax-free, equivalent to 5.00% for a higher rate taxpayer and 3.75% for a basic rate taxpayer. The odds of winning are 24,000 to 1 and, with average luck, an investor with £30,000 in Premium Bonds can expect to win 15 tax-free prizes a year – more than one a month.
23 million people have more than £27 billion invested in Premium Bonds.
Premium Bonds can be bought online at www.nsandi.com, by telephone on 0500 007 007, by post and over the counter at Post Office branches.
Like all NS&I products, Premium Bonds offer investors 100% security, backed by HM Treasury, as well as the sense of fun that comes from winning tax free prizes.
Since the first Premium Bonds prize draw in 1957, 126 million tax-free prizes worth £8 billion have been given away. Prizes range from £50 to £1 million.
There is currently over £25 million in unclaimed prizes. There is no time limit on claiming prizes. Premium Bond investors can check to see if they have won by logging on to www.nsandi.com and using the Premium Bond prize checker.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
1. Pictures of ERNIE (including the new ERNIE 4 machine), Agent Million and buying Premium Bonds online are available in high-resolution jpeg format from the NS&I media team.
2. Further information on National Savings and Investments (NS&I), including press releases and product information, is available on the website at www.nsandi.com. You can also contact the NS&I media team.
3. 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.
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