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April 2025 premium bond winners – how to reinvest your winnings
Savers from South Yorkshire and Hertfordshire became millionaires this month
Two premium bond holders have bagged £1 million each in the latest National Savings & Investments (NS&I) monthly prize draw.
The winners are from South Yorkshire and Hertfordshire. A further 78 savers secured the next-best prize of £100,000.
April price rises will hit everyone this month, with energy, water and council tax bills all going up. A cash prize would help many households meet these extra costs, but if you won big today, reinvesting a portion of the money could benefit your finances in the long-term.
Here, Which? reveals April's winning premium bond numbers and offers six savvy ways to reinvest premium bond winnings.
April 2025 premium bond winners
The first winning bond (494WG724922) was bought by a lucky winner living in South Yorkshire, and is part of a total holding of £43,165. The bond was bought in March 2022.
The second winner, from Hertfordshire, bought their bond (418AW560890) in October 2020. They have a total holding of £50,000.
Which? is sent the details of the premium bond jackpot winners and prize draw data the day before full results are made available to all premium bond holders via the app and online.
- Find out more: should I get premium bonds?
How many winners were drawn in April?
There were 5.91 million premium bond prizes paid out in the April 2025 draw. Of these, 78 were worth £100 or less. In total, this month's prizes were worth £412 million.
The number of high-value prizes worth between £5,000 and £100,000 dropped this month, from 3,055 to 2,900. That's thanks to NS&I cutting the prize fund rate for the second time this year, from 4% to 3.8%.
| Value of prize | Number of prizes |
|---|---|
| £1,000,000 | 2 |
| £100,000 | 78 |
| £50,000 | 158 |
| £25,000 | 313 |
| £10,000 | 784 |
| £5,000 | 1,567 |
| £1,000 | 16,480 |
Source: NS&I
6 ways to use a windfall
Of course, the obvious thing to do with your winnings is to treat yourself and pay off any outstanding debt – whether that's bills, credit cards, or personal loans. If you won a large sum of cash, you could even go mortgage-free.
But if you want your finances to benefit for years to come, you should consider reinvesting whatever money is leftover.
Whether you won the jackpot or a smaller prize, here are six of the best ways to use your money.
1. Build an emergency savings pot
Building an emergency fund can help you cover essentials should you fall into financial hardship, so it's good idea to deposit a proportion of your winnings into an instant-access savings account you can easily dip into whenever needed.
Research by Hargreaves Lansdown found working people should have enough emergency savings to cover up to six months’ worth of expenses, totalling £12,669. But retirees will need up to £76,012 to cover for three years. Retired people need more tucked away because it's harder for them to replenish their savings pot.
This table shows the best rates for instant-access accounts, ordered by rate and excluding those that impose restrictions on opening and withdrawals.
| Account | AER | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Kent Reliance Easy Access Account | 4.64% | £1,000 minimum deposit |
| Charter Savings Bank Easy Access | 4.59% | £1 minimum deposit |
| Sidekick High Yield Cash Reserve | 4.59% | £1,000 minimum deposit |
| Monument Bank Easy Access Account (Raisin exclusive*) | 4.56% | £10 minimum deposit |
| Secure Trust Bank Access Account | 4.45% | £1 minimum deposit |
Source: Moneyfacts. Correct as of 1 April 2025, but rates are subject to change.
2. Lock your money in a fixed-term bond
Don't forget to also think about longer-term savings goals and consider locking winnings away in a fixed account.
Unlike an instant-access account, which has a variable rate that can change at any time, fixed-term bonds guarantee you the same returns for a set period – usually between one and five years.
This table shows the top fixed-term rates currently available, ordered by term.
| Account type | Account | AER/EPR | Terms |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-year fixed-term savings account | Al Rayan Bank 1 Year Fixed Term Deposit (Raisin exclusive*) (s) | 4.7% | £1,000 minimum deposit |
| Two-year fixed-term savings account | Gatehouse Bank 2 Year Fixed Term Woodland Saver (s) | 4.65% | £1,000 minimum deposit |
| Three-year fixed-term savings account | Gatehouse Bank 3 Year Fixed Term Woodland Saver (s) | 4.65% | £1,000 minimum deposit |
| Four-year fixed-term savings account | Gatehouse Bank 4 Year Fixed Term Woodland Saver | 4.65% | £1,000 minimum deposit |
| Five-year fixed-term savings account | Gatehouse Bank 5 Year Fixed Term Woodland Saver | 4.65% | £1,000 minimum deposit |
Source: Moneyfacts. Correct as of 1 April 2025, but rates are subject to change. (s) This is a Sharia-compliant product, and so offers an expected profit rate (EPR) as opposed to an annual equivalent rate (AER).
3. Open a tax-free Isa
There is a limit to how much interest you can earn on your money before you face a tax bill. The personal savings allowance means basic-rate taxpayers can earn up to £1,000 a year in savings interest tax-free, while higher-rate taxpayers get a £500 limit. Additional-rate taxpayers have no personal savings allowance.
So if you have a large sum to reinvest, you might want to also consider opening an Isa, which allows you to deposit £20,000 a year tax-free.
Rates also tend to get a boost in April when the new financial year begins and allowances are renewed.
This table shows the top rates for fixed-term and restriction-free instant-access cash Isas, ordered by term.
| Account type | Account | AER | Terms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instant-access cash Isa | Monument Bank Easy Access Cash Isa | 4.76% | £10,000 minimum deposit |
| One-year fixed-term cash Isa | Shawbrook Bank 1 Year Fixed Rate Cash Isa Bond | 4.52% | £1,000 minimum deposit |
| Two-year fixed-term cash Isa | United Trust Bank Cash Isa 2 Year Bond | 4.45% | £5,000 minimum deposit |
| Three-year fixed-term cash Isa | Close Brothers Savings 3 Year Fixed Rate Cash Isa | 4.43% | £10,000 minimum deposit |
| Four-year fixed-term cash Isa | United Trust Bank Cash Isa 4 Year Bond | 4.2% | £5,000 minimum deposit |
| Five-year fixed-term cash Isa | Shawbrook Bank 5 Year Fixed Rate Cash Isa Bond | 4.32% | £1,000 minimum deposit |
Source: Moneyfacts. Correct as of 1 April 2025, but rates are subject to change.
If you've got savings you won't need for at least five years, you could earn a better return by investing instead. A stocks and shares Isa means all profits and dividends are tax-free.
4. Boost your pension
Prepare for the future by pumping extra cash into your pension pot.
This annual allowance for pension contributions is currently set at £60,000, or up to 100% of your annual income if you earn less than £60,000.
This amount includes additions made by you, your employer (if you have a company pension), and third parties - which can include pension tax relief.
- Find out more: what is a personal pension?
5. Invest the cash
You could consider investing the money, however you should be prepared to leave it invested for at least five years to ride out any market dips.
Depending on how confident or experienced you are, you can either build your own portfolio or look to an investment platform to do the job for you.
If you're considering investing a large amount of money, it's a good idea to chat to a financial adviser before making any big decisions.
- Find out more: are you ready to invest?
6. Buy more premium bonds
If you've been lucky enough to win some money, while having less than the maximum £50,000 invested in premium bonds, you could choose to top up your holding.
This will theoretically increase your chances of winning again in the future, although it's not guaranteed.
If you hold £50,000, with average luck you’d win around £1,750 in one year, according to estimates.
