A Premium Bonds holder has started the new year with a bang after winning the biggest prize on offer on their first try.
One of the coveted £1million jackpot prizes was won by a saver in Gloucestershire who holds the maximum £50,000.
It was a true case of beginner’s luck for this winner, who purchased their winning bond in November 2024. January’s draw was the first one their bond was eligible for.
The other £1million prize winner was based in Liverpool and had a holding of £37,025. They purchased their winning bond in March 2022.
Other lucky winners scooped big prizes with tiny holdings in the first Premium Bonds prize draw of the year.
Beginner’s luck: A Premium Bonds holder based in Gloucestershire bagged a £1million prize on their bond’s first draw
One winner from Cornwall scooped £50,000 with a holding of just £100. They purchased their winning bond in March 2011.
Meanwhile, another Premium Bonds holder based in North East Scotland also won £50,000 with a holding of £250 from a bond purchased in December 2013.
The likelihood of winning at least £50,000 with a £100 holding is one in 4.7million while the odds of winning this prize with a £250 holding are 1.8million to one, This is Money analysis reveals.
The average holding of the £50,000 prize winners in this month’s draw was £37,851.
In the January 2025 prize draw, a total of 5.9million prizes worth £429million were drawn.
Premium Bonds Winners
| Prize | Area | Value of bond |
| £1,000,000 | Liverpool | £18,025 |
| £1,000,000 | Gloucestershire | £17,480 |
| £100,000 | South West Wales | £49,000 |
| £100,000 | Inner London | £10,000 |
| £100,000 | South Yorkshire | £5,000 |
| £100,000 | Inner London | £15,000 |
| £100,000 | North Yorkshire | £20,000 |
| £100,000 | Wales | £10,000 |
More January 2025 winners
In this month’s draw, the Premium Bonds prize fund rate – which represents the average return a Premium Bonds saver would get in a year – was 4 per cent. It was cut from 4.15 per cent in November.
A month before that, NS&I cut the prize fund rate from 4.4 per cent to 4.15 per cent.
The two successive rate cuts mean the odds of winning a Premium Bonds prize are now 22,000 to one. In the November 2024 draw they stood at 21,000 to one.
Andrew Westhead, NS&I retail director, said: ‘We’re delighted to kick off 2025 by creating our first Premium Bonds millionaires of the year in Liverpool and Gloucestershire.’
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