Two Premium Bonds holders in Somerset and East Sussex celebrate as ERNIE draws the October jackpot millionaires

• October’s £1 million jackpot winners come from Somerset and East Sussex
• ERNIE has drawn over 6.5 million prizes this month worth more than £498 million
• ERNIE has now drawn over 865 million prizes since the first draw in June 1957
• It’s one month to go until the 70^th anniversary of Premium Bonds going on sale in November 1956

October has delivered a brilliant surprise for two Premium Bonds holders from Somerset and East Sussex, who are each celebrating winning a £1 million tax-free jackpot.

The first Premium Bonds £1 million winning Bond number this month is 681KK770541 and is held by someone from Somerset. They purchased the winning Bond in July this year and hold £16,000. They are the ninth jackpot winner from Somerset.

The second Premium Bonds £1 million jackpot Bond number is 331QY484133 and is held by someone in East Sussex. They purchased their winning Bond in May 2018 and hold £50,000. They are the eighth person to win the £1 million in East Sussex.

Andrew Westhead, NS&I Retail Director, said: “ERNIE is still bringing the excitement of tax-free prizes nearly 70 years after Premium Bonds first went on sale in November 1956. This month the 587^th and 588^th £1 million jackpot winners were drawn, along with more than 6.5 million other tax-free prizes ranging from £100,000 to £25.

“Our Somerset winner only bought their winning bond in July this year, while our East Sussex winner waited eight years for the jackpot, showing that whenever you invest in Premium Bonds, you never know when a big prize might be coming your way.”

October 2026 prize draw breakdown
In the October draw, 6,546,849 tax-free prizes will be paid to Premium Bonds prize draw winners totaling £498,378,775. This month there were 137,483,797,618 £1 Bonds eligible for the draw. This brings the grand total of prizes since the first draw in June 1957 to 865 million and the value to £43 billion.

What are Premium Bonds?

Since they originally went on sale in November 1956, Premium Bonds have offered savers an accessible way to invest with the chance to win tax-free prizes. The first prize draw by ERNIE was held in June 1957.

Individuals can hold up to £50,000 in Premium Bonds, including those aged under 16. Premium Bonds offer the security of being backed by HM Treasury alongside the excitement of potentially winning tax-free prizes.

Newly purchased Premium Bonds need to be held for one full calendar month after purchase before being eligible for the prize draw. 

Prizes are funded based upon a prize fund rate applied across the total of all eligible Premium Bonds held.

Each £1 Bond purchased is entered into a monthly prize draw, where prizes range from £25 to £1 million, making it an exciting and engaging way to save. The jackpot prize was increased to £1 million from the April 1994 draw. There are now two £1 million prizes each month.

Checking prizes

The Bond numbers for the two £1 million jackpot prize winners are announced on the first working day of each month having been contacted directly by Agent Million. Bond holders can check if they have won prizes ranging from £25 to £100,000 the day after the first working day of each month by using the Premium Bonds prize checker app, visiting the NS&I website, or by asking Alexa. For October 2026, this is Friday 2 October. 

To check prizes on the NS&I website, Bond holders will need their Premium Bonds holder’s number. For those using the Premium Bonds app, they can use their holder’s number, or their NS&I number.

Premium Bonds prizes notifications and unclaimed prizes

Premium Bonds prize winners will receive notifications of their winnings each month via their chosen method such as email or text if they have registered their contact details.

Over 99% of prizes have been paid to winners since the draw began in 1957 but there are instances where customers relocate or change contact or bank details and forget to update NS&I with the new details, which can lead to unclaimed prizes. Currently there are 2,869,527 unclaimed prizes worth £128,345,775 waiting to be claimed by Bond holders.

The best way to avoid prizes going unclaimed is to have them paid directly into the holder’s bank account or automatically reinvested into Premium Bonds up to the £50,000 holding limit. Prizes automatically reinvested are immediately eligible for the next draw. These payment methods now account for nine in ten prizes being paid in these ways.

Customers who think they may have an unclaimed prize (prizes over 18 months old) can check by entering their holder’s number into NS&I’s online prize checker or the prize checker app.

In Somerset, there are currently 23,657 unclaimed prizes worth £1,105,350. There is one £50,000 unclaimed prize in Somerset. It was won in April 2024.

In East Sussex, there are currently 44,414 unclaimed prizes worth £1,982,900. There are three £25,000, two £10,000, and six £5,000 prizes waiting to be claimed in East Sussex.

Notes to Editors

1. The variable annual prize fund rate for the October 2026 Premium Bonds prize draw is 4.35%. The odds of any £1 Bond number winning a prize are 21,000 to 1.
2. Details of previous prize fund rates and odds for Premium Bonds can be found here.
3. Spokespeople including Agent Million are available for interview, along with historical, national and regional facts and figures about Premium Bonds by contacting the Media Team (information below).
4. All Premium Bonds are free of UK Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax.
5. ERNIE (Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment). The story of ERNIE is available here.
6. NS&I is one of the largest savings organisations in the UK, offering a range of savings and investments to more than 24 million customers, including over 22 million Premium Bonds holders. All products offer 100% security as NS&I is backed by HM Treasury.
7. Further information on NS&I, including press releases and product information, is available on the website at nsandi.com.