Premium bond winners revealed for November – is the prize draw still worth it?

Two lucky premium bond holders have bagged £1 million each in the latest National Savings & Investments (NS&I) monthly prize draw.

The winners are from Warwickshire and Cornwall. A further 89 bond-holders secured the next-best prize of £100,000. 

If you missed out on a prize this month, you'll be disappointed to hear that your chances of winning are about to get worse. Almost 300,000 fewer prizes are up for grabs from next month.

So are premium bonds still worth investing in? Read on to find out more about this month's winning numbers and why NS&I's prize draw remains so popular with savers. 

November 2024 premium bond winners

We receive the premium bond jackpot winners and prize draw data the day before full results are made available to bond holders.

This means we can reveal that the first winning bond (286CJ469715) was bought by a lucky winner living in Warwickshire, and is part of a total holding of £50,000. The winning bond was purchased in November 2016.

The second winner, from Cornwall, bought their bond (567MN061686) in January 2024. They have a total holding of £38,000.

• Find out more: should I get premium bonds?

How many winners were drawn in November?

There were just over six million prizes given out in the November prize draw, worth a total of £463m.

Of these, 99% of prizes were worth £100 or less.

Fewer chances to win from December

As of December's draw, the premium bond prize fund rate will fall from 4.4% to 4.15%. 

The odds of winning any prize will also worsen to 22,000 to 1, from the current rate 21,000 to 1. These are the worst odds since August 2023.

NS&I claims the cut is in response to tumbling rates across the savings market. An estimated £28m will be shaved off the total value of prizes, and the total number of prizes fall by almost 300,000.

There will still be two jackpot winners, but the number of prizes worth between £5,000 and £100,000 will drop by 209. 

The total number of lower-value prizes worth between £50 and £1,000 will also fall by 284,000. However, £25 prizes – the lowest amount you can win – will be boosted by 10,866.

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Chances of winning are slim – so why buy?

Your chances of winning on premium bonds are pretty slim, and a new survey by Hargreaves Lansdown shows six in 10 premium bond holders know they'd be better off opening a savings account that offers guaranteed returns.

If people know the odds are stacked against them, why do they enter? To answer that question, we weigh up the pros and cons of investing in one of the UK's most popular savings products:

Pros

• Win a big cash prize The thrill of a flutter and the chance to become an overnight millionaire are reason enough for many people to buy premium bonds. And unlike gambling, you won't lose any money if your numbers don't come up.
• Very safe Funds held in premium bonds are backed by HM Treasury, so your money is invested safely.
• Tax free You can buy up to £50,000 worth of premium bonds and you won't need to pay a penny to HMRC on cash prizes. This could be particularly useful if you’ve exceeded your personal savings allowance.
• Instant access Unlike some savings accounts, there are no restrictions on withdrawals and you can take as much money out as you like, whenever you need.
• Small opening deposit You can start saving with as little as £25.

Cons

• You could win nothing The chances of becoming a millionaire are tiny, and recent analysis of NS&I data by AJ Bell shows most current premium bond holders have won nothing at all. It really is the luck of the draw.
• No interest Not only could you end up winning nothing, money invested in premium bonds doesn't earn any interest. For guaranteed returns, you're better off opening a savings account. Take a look at our guide to the best savings accounts for the latest top rates.
• Low maximum balance The most you can hold in premium bonds is £50,000. Savings accounts, on the other hand, allow you to build much bigger nest eggs. The current top one-year fixed-term bond allows you to save up to £1m and offers a market-leading rate of 5% AER.
• You must wait to win Premium bonds are only eligible for the draw once they've been held for one full calendar month.

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