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Media centre /
Press releaseERNIE STARTS 2005 WITH A VISIT TO THE LONDON BOROUGH OF HARINGEY WITH £1MILLION FOR MYSTERY WINNER06 January 2005
HARINGEY RESIDENT CELEBRATES £1MILLION PREMIUM BOND JACKPOT WIN
One lucky resident from the London Borough of Haringey is £1 million richer today after ERNIE, the Premium Bond number generator, churned through billions of Premium Bond numbers, picking 2005’s first jackpot winning number. The winner, whose identity is being kept a secret, was told last night in person by Agent Million, the mystery person who pays a personal visit to the winner to give them the good news. The winner – a married woman – last night told Agent Million: "I can’t believe it. I only bought my Bonds hoping to win small prizes often, I never thought I would actually win the jackpot – and so soon too. “This is such a wonderful start to 2005. I hadn’t won much in the last two years and was starting to doubt ERNIE but this shows you the prizes can come at any time – you never know when you are going to get lucky. This has certainly brightened up my January!” This is Haringey’s first £1 million Premium Bond jackpot winner since the top prize was introduced in 1994, and January’s winner becomes the 130th Premium Bond millionaire overall. This month’s winning jackpot number was purchased in June 2004, and the winner holds £20,000 in Premium Bonds. The current prize fund rate is 3.20%, 4.00% p.a. gross for a basic rate tax payer and 5.33% p.a. gross for a higher rate tax payer, while the odds of winning are 24,000 to 1 and, with average luck, an investor with 30,000 Premium Bonds can expect to win 15 tax-free prizes a year – more than one a month. The popularity of Premium Bonds has grown dramatically over the past five years as the amount invested has doubled to over £25 billion. January’s draw is the biggest ever, with ERNIE awarding over one million prizes worth £68 million. 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. The number and value of prizes awarded in January 2005 are:
Since the first draw in 1957, ERNIE has given away over 117.5 million prizes worth over £7.48 billion. Prizes range from £50 to £1million. There is currently £23.6 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
Media team The numbers below are for media use only. Customers wishing to contact NS&I can find details here.
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