
More than £100 million Premium Bonds winnings unclaimed
This includes more than £120 million in Premium Bonds savings and unclaimed prizes, £11.4 million paid out from old savings certificates and £1.3 million from old children's bonus bonds.
This Morning consumer editor Alice Beer says: "For the first time, unclaimed prizes, the amount of money of unclaimed prizes, has gone beyond £100 million. So it's sitting there, it's yours whenever you want it. It's waiting for you.
She adds: "Look around the country at where those those amounts are.
"Go onto the website and get your winnings. Have a look and check."
You can check your numbers here.
In 2024-25 more than £6.2 million from 192,071 previously unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes was paid out to 51,310 Bond holders, either through tracing services, customers updating their details or checking for unclaimed prizes.
NS&I has successfully paid out over 99% of all Premium Bonds prizes to its winners since 1957.
It highlighted the importance of customers updating their details and opting to have Premium Bond prizes paid directly into their bank accounts.
Andrew Westhead, NS&I's retail director, says: 'These figures are a timely reminder to update your details, talk to your loved ones about your savings and make sure your money stays firmly in your hands, both now and in the future.'
Premium Bond prizes are considered by NS&I to be 'unclaimed' after 18 months, but there is no time limit to claiming them.
NS&I defines unclaimed assets as holdings in closed products and assets kept in open products where there have been no customer financial transactions for a period of 15 years or more.
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Sarah Coles, head of personal finance, Hargreaves Lansdown, adds 'Eleven people in the UK have £100,000 with their name on it, just sitting, collecting dust, in the vaults at NS&I.
'They're among an eye-watering £103 million worth of unclaimed Premium Bond prizes, so it's worth checking whether you've already won big.
'People tend to get separated from their accounts when they move house and forget to update their address with all the companies they hold money with.
'It's not just Premium Bonds, vast sums of savings, investments and pensions go astray this way too. It's why in the first few weeks after you have moved in, it's essential to make a list of everything you hold, and methodically work your way through contacting every company to let them know your new address.
'It can also make sense to consider consolidating accounts so you don't have so many to keep track of in future.
'The easiest way to avoid losing track of Premium Bond prizes is to have your winnings automatically paid into your bank account – or automatically used to buy more bonds.'
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BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Africa to be hit hard as foreign aid cuts revealed
The government has revealed details of its plans to cut foreign aid, with support for children's education and women's health in Africa facing the biggest government said in February it would slash foreign aid spending by 40% - from 0.5% of gross national income to 0.3% - to increase defence spending to 2.5% after pressure from the US. A Foreign Office report and impact assessment show the biggest cuts this year will come in Africa, with less spent on women's health and water sanitation with increased risks, it says, of disease and death. Bond, a UK network of aid organisations, said women and children in the most marginalised communities would pay the highest price. As well as less support for Africa, including big cuts in children's education, funding for the Occupied Palestinian Territories will fall by 21% despite promises to the the government said spending on multilateral aid bodies - money given to international organisations like the World Bank - would be protected, including the Gavi vaccine alliance, and it said the UK would also continue to play a key humanitarian role in hotspots such as Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan. Baroness Chapman, minister for development, said: "Every pound must work harder for UK taxpayers and the people we help around the world and these figures show how we are starting to do just that through having a clear focus and priorities."The government said the cuts follow "a line-by-line strategic review of aid" by the minister, which focused on "prioritisation, efficiency, protecting planned humanitarian support and live contracts while ensuring responsible exit from programming where necessary".The Foreign Office said bilateral support - aid going directly to the recipient country - for some countries would decrease and multilateral organisations deemed to be underperforming would face future funding cuts. It has not yet announced which countries will be said it was clear the government was "deprioritising" funding "for education, gender and countries experiencing humanitarian crises such as South Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia, and surprisingly the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Sudan, which the government said would be protected"."It is concerning that bilateral funding for Africa, gender, education and health programmes will drop," Bond policy director Gideon Rabinowitz said."The world's most marginalised communities, particularly those experiencing conflict and women and girls, will pay the highest price for these political choices."At a time when the US has gutted all gender programming, the UK should be stepping up, not stepping back."Foreign aid has come under intense scrutiny in recent years, with the one cabinet minister admitting the public no longer supports spending on it. One organisation that escaped the cuts was the World Bank. The Foreign Office confirmed that the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's fund for the world's lowest income countries, would receive £1.98bn in funding from the UK over the next three years, helping the organisation benefit 1.9 billion Labour governments under Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown committed to increasing the overseas aid budget to 0.7% of national target was reached in 2013 under David Cameron's Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government, before being enshrined in law in aid spending was cut to 0.5% of national income in 2021 under the Conservatives, blaming the economic pressures of Covid.

South Wales Argus
3 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
More than £100 million Premium Bonds winnings unclaimed
NS&I said that in the financial year 2024-25, more than £166 million was reunited through 52,693 NS&I accounts for holders who had lost touch with their savings and investments, thanks to NS&I's tracing service and My Lost Account. This includes more than £120 million in Premium Bonds savings and unclaimed prizes, £11.4 million paid out from old savings certificates and £1.3 million from old children's bonus bonds. This Morning consumer editor Alice Beer says: "For the first time, unclaimed prizes, the amount of money of unclaimed prizes, has gone beyond £100 million. So it's sitting there, it's yours whenever you want it. It's waiting for you. She adds: "Look around the country at where those those amounts are. "Go onto the website and get your winnings. Have a look and check." You can check your numbers here. In 2024-25 more than £6.2 million from 192,071 previously unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes was paid out to 51,310 Bond holders, either through tracing services, customers updating their details or checking for unclaimed prizes. NS&I has successfully paid out over 99% of all Premium Bonds prizes to its winners since 1957. It highlighted the importance of customers updating their details and opting to have Premium Bond prizes paid directly into their bank accounts. Andrew Westhead, NS&I's retail director, says: 'These figures are a timely reminder to update your details, talk to your loved ones about your savings and make sure your money stays firmly in your hands, both now and in the future.' Premium Bond prizes are considered by NS&I to be 'unclaimed' after 18 months, but there is no time limit to claiming them. NS&I defines unclaimed assets as holdings in closed products and assets kept in open products where there have been no customer financial transactions for a period of 15 years or more. Recommended reading: How to collect unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes (and to avoid losing them in the first place) Keep contact details up-to-date. This can be done on NS&I's website. To prevent Premium Bond prizes going unclaimed, customers can choose to have winnings paid directly into their bank account, or automatically reinvested into more Premium Bonds, with nine in 10 prizes now paid in these ways. Balances can be checked on the NS&I app, and Premium Bond wins can be checked on the prize checker app. Old NS&I bonds, certificates, passbooks or account paperwork can often be found tucked away in drawers or among old documents. Customers who find forgotten savings are encouraged to use NS&I's tracing service to locate any funds due to them. Sarah Coles, head of personal finance, Hargreaves Lansdown, adds 'Eleven people in the UK have £100,000 with their name on it, just sitting, collecting dust, in the vaults at NS&I. 'They're among an eye-watering £103 million worth of unclaimed Premium Bond prizes, so it's worth checking whether you've already won big. 'People tend to get separated from their accounts when they move house and forget to update their address with all the companies they hold money with. 'It's not just Premium Bonds, vast sums of savings, investments and pensions go astray this way too. It's why in the first few weeks after you have moved in, it's essential to make a list of everything you hold, and methodically work your way through contacting every company to let them know your new address. 'It can also make sense to consider consolidating accounts so you don't have so many to keep track of in future. 'The easiest way to avoid losing track of Premium Bond prizes is to have your winnings automatically paid into your bank account – or automatically used to buy more bonds.'


Scottish Sun
17 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
How to turn £25 into £11,335 by investing in everyday supermarket
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