- In February, the Premium Bonds £1 million jackpot winners are from Central Bedfordshire and Liverpool
- ERNIE has drawn over six million prizes this month, worth more than £408 million
- £40 billion won by Premium Bonds holders since the first prize draw in 1957
Two Premium Bonds holders from Central Bedfordshire and Liverpool are already feeling the Valentine’s love this month as they celebrate winning a life-changing £1 million Premium Bonds jackpot prize.
This month there were more than 6.1 million Premium Bonds prizes worth over £408 million won by Bond holders.
The first Premium Bonds £1 million winning Bond number this month is 489TB013219 and is held by someone from Central Bedfordshire. They purchased the winning Bond in February 2022 and hold £50,000. They are the second jackpot winner from Central Bedfordshire.
The second Premium Bonds £1 million jackpot Bond number is 040QJ919368 held by someone in Liverpool. They hold £50,000 and purchased their winning Bond in October 2004. They are the fourth to win the £1 million jackpot in Liverpool.
Andrew Westhead, NS&I Retail Director, said: "Congratulations to our two jackpot winners from Central Bedfordshire and Liverpool, who each start February £1 million richer. ERNIE has spread the love ahead of Valentine's Day and we hope this brings both winners and their loved ones plenty to celebrate.
"It’s not just about the jackpot winners though; this month we’ve paid out over 6.1 million prizes worth more than £408 million, bringing the total won by Premium Bonds holders since the first draw in 1957 to £40 billion."
February 2026 prize draw breakdown
In the February draw, £408,082,375 will be paid to Premium Bonds prize draw winners totalling 6,183,066 tax-free prizes. This month there were 136,027,454,915 £1 Bonds eligible for the draw. This brings the grand total of prizes since the first draw in June 1957 to 815 million and the total value to £40 billion.
| Value of prize | Number of prizes |
| £1,000,000 | 2 |
| £100,000 | 78 |
| £50,000 | 154 |
| £25,000 | 311 |
| £10,000 | 777 |
| £5,000 | 1,553 |
| £1,000 | 16,322 |
| £500 | 48,966 |
| £100 | 1,735,948 |
| £50 | 1,735,948 |
| £25 | 2,643,007 |
| Total value of prizes | Total number of prizes |
| £408,082,375 | 6,183,066 |
What are Premium Bonds?
Since they originally went on sale in November 1956, Premium Bonds have offered savers an accessible way to invest with the chance to win tax-free prizes. The first prize draw by ERNIE was then held in June 1957.
Individuals can hold up to £50,000 in Premium Bonds, including those aged under 16. Premium Bonds offer the security of being backed by HM Treasury alongside the excitement of potentially winning tax-free prizes.
Newly purchased Premium Bonds need to be held for one full calendar month after purchase before being eligible for the prize draw.
Prizes are funded based upon a prize fund rate applied across the total of all eligible Premium Bonds held.
Each £1 Bond purchased is entered into a monthly prize draw, where prizes range from £25 to £1 million, making it a different and engaging way to save. The jackpot prize was increased to £1 million from the April 1994 draw. There are now two £1 million prizes each month.
Checking prizes
The Bond numbers for the two £1 million jackpot prize winners are announced on the first working day of each month having been contacted directly by Agent Million. Bond holders can check if they have won prizes ranging from £25 to £100,000 the day after the first working day of each month by using the Premium Bonds prize checker app, visiting the NS&I website, or by asking Alexa. For February 2026, this is Tuesday, 3 February.
To check prizes on the NS&I website Bond holders will need their Premium Bonds holder’s number. For those using the Premium Bonds app they can use their holder’s number, or their NS&I number.
Premium Bonds prizes notifications and unclaimed prizes
Premium Bonds prize winners will receive notifications of their winnings each month via their chosen method such as email or text if they have registered their contact details.
There are instances where customers relocate or change contact or bank details and forget to update NS&I with the new details which can lead to unclaimed prizes. Currently there are 2,713,707 unclaimed prizes worth £114,769,950 waiting to be claimed by Bond holders. Over 99% of prizes have been paid to winners since the draw began in 1957.
The best way to avoid prizes going unclaimed is to have them paid directly into the holder’s bank account or automatically reinvested into Premium Bonds up to the £50,000 holding limit. Prizes automatically reinvested are immediately eligible for the next draw. These payment methods now account for nine in ten prizes being paid in these ways.
Customers who think they may have an unclaimed prize (prizes over 18 months old) can check by entering their holder’s number into NS&I’s online prize checker or the prize checker app.
In Central Bedfordshire, there are currently around 10,400 unclaimed prizes worth £433,225 dating back to February 1968. The largest unclaimed prize in Central Bedfordshire is worth £10,000 and was won in the January 2024 draw by a Bond holder with a holding of £100.
In Liverpool, there is a £5,000 prize from May 2023 yet to be claimed; this is currently the highest unclaimed prize ready to be united with its owner. There are also 13 unclaimed £1,000 prizes dating back to November 1987.
Notes to Editors
- The variable annual prize fund rate for the February 2026 Premium Bonds prize draw is 3.60%. The odds of any £1 Bond number winning a prize are 22,000 to 1.
- Details of previous prize fund rates and odds for Premium Bonds can be found here.
- Spokespeople including Agent Million are available for interview, along with historical, national and regional facts and figures about Premium Bonds by contacting the Media Team (information below).
- All Premium Bonds are free of UK Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax.
- ERNIE (Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment). The story of ERNIE is available here.
- NS&I is one of the largest savings organisations in the UK, offering a range of savings and investments to more than 24 million customers including over 22 million Premium Bonds holders. All products offer 100% security as NS&I is backed by HM Treasury.
- Further information on NS&I including past press releases is available at nsandi-corporate.com.
- NS&I photography and logos are available to download here.