Premium Bonds holder asks how to consolidate small amounts into one lump – NS&I explains | Personal Finance | Finance
A Premium Bonds customer looking to consolidate their Bonds into one lump have asked NS&I how the process works.
The saver got in touch over X to ask: “I have quite a few Bonds of small amounts and would like to get them all into one lump.
“Is there a way of doing this without cashing them all in and re-purchasing again without losing a month’s draw?”
NS&I said in response: “If you would like to change your smaller value Bonds into one larger value Bond, you would be required to cash in all of the Bonds and repurchase as one lump sum.
“Therefore, you would be required to wait the one full calendar month for the newly purchased Bond to be eligible for prize draws.”
A person can hold up to £50,000 in Bonds. The more Bonds a person has, the better their chances of winning in the monthly prize draw.
When a person purchases Bonds, they have to buy at least £25 worth. Each £1 Bond has an equal chance of being in a winning number in the prize draw at the start of the month.
However, the savings system is purely based on luck, so a person can go months or even years without winning a cash prize.
One frustrated customer recently contacted NS&I as they had gone 46 years without taking home a prize.
A representative of the savings group said in response: “Please note it is an essential feature of the Premium Bond scheme that winning is solely a matter of luck, and there can be no guarantee of any level of return whatever the value of the holding.
“The random nature of the prize draw means that there is no predictable pattern to the frequency or value of prize wins.”
A woman whose husband had died also recently contacted NS&I to aks how the probate rules work.
She queried: “My husband died in January having bought bonds two weeks previously.
“I am waiting for probate and know the Bonds can remain in for one year. My question is does the year count from when he bought the bonds, when he died or when they first entered the draw.”
NS&I said in response: ” The Bonds can remain in the draws for up to 12 months after the date of death, hope this helps.”
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