Premium Bonds supplier NS&I has issued recommendation concerning the course of for a buyer to unlock their account to allow them to purchase extra Bonds.

Twitter consumer @helenmildenhall contacted the group on the social media website as she wished to purchase extra Bonds and was ready for her account to be unlocked.

She mentioned in a tweet on July 11: “I set up old Premium Bonds in an online account but can't buy new ones. I called about that recently and was told I need to send you ID to unlock that capability.

“I posted it to you on June 30. How long should it take to process that and unlock my account?”

All Premium Bonds, irrespective of how outdated, are entered into the month-to-month prize draw, with every £1 Bond having an equal probability of successful a prize.

The supplier mentioned in response: “It's usually around 10 working days, so you should be hearing from us very soon.”

The NS&I web site states if an individual has come throughout some outdated Premium Bonds, they will write to NS&I to request for them to be added to their on-line account.

People with Premium Bonds are entered right into a month-to-month prize draw reasonably than getting an rate of interest as with a standard financial savings account.

Each prize draw has two £1million prizes and different massive money prizes of £50,000 and £10,000.

An individual buying Bonds has to purchase a minimum of £25 in Bonds. People usually reinvest their winnings by shopping for extra Bonds, to extend their possibilities of successful once more. An particular person can have as much as £50,000 in Bonds.

The prize prize fund charge is growing from the August draw from the present 3.6 p.c to 4 p.c, with the chances of successful to go up from 22,000 to 1 to 24,000 to 1.

An additional 460,000 prizes are to be added to the pot. Dax Harkins, NS&I’s chief govt, mentioned: “I’m delighted that we’re able to improve the odds to the best they have been in almost 15 years, with more prizes, more excitement and more life changing wins for savers up and down the country.

“These changes will benefit millions of NS&I’s savers who have money in Premium Bonds, Direct Saver and Income Bonds.”

Customers can verify if they've any unclaimed prizes from earlier attracts utilizing the prize checker device on the NS&I web site.

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