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Missing expat Premium Bond prizewinners urged to claim their windfalls
| Published: | 24 Sep at 6 PM |
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Two British expats who’ve probably forgotten they’d bought Premium Bonds are sitting on a major windfall totalling £150,000.
The UK’s Premium Bond scheme encouraged millions of post-war Britons to buy its shares at £1 each and take part in its monthly draws. Many savers won small or larger prizes over the years until the National Lottery and the later Euro lotteries began offering huge prizes not linked to savings.
One of the two unclaimed prizes is due to a woman holding six bonds who emigrated to Australia and presumably forgot to check the monthly draws after she left the UK. In 2007, one of her numbers was drawn and she won £100,000.
The second unclaimed prize of £50,000 belongs to a Briton whose last known address was somewhere in Japan. He’d bought his winning bond in 1993, and its number came up in 2011.
Thousands of expats are the owners of bonds which have won smaller amounts but are so far unclaimed, with the overall total being held against redemption amounting to an amazing £47million. National Savings and Investments, the organisation managing the government’s Premium Bond plan, employs a dedicated team whose job is to track down missing winners, and there’s no expiry date for claiming the prizes.
UK expats as well as residents can hold the certificates as long as they can show a UK bank account, and any winnings are not taxable. According to an NSI spokesperson, the main problem is that bond holders don’t notify the NSI of any change of address.
British expats are also infamous for losing track of their workplace pensions if they frequently change jobs over their working lives. Lapsed bank accounts are another problem, with around £15 million of Britons’ money lodged in suspended accounts, according to the British Bankers’ Association.
The UK’s Premium Bond scheme encouraged millions of post-war Britons to buy its shares at £1 each and take part in its monthly draws. Many savers won small or larger prizes over the years until the National Lottery and the later Euro lotteries began offering huge prizes not linked to savings.
One of the two unclaimed prizes is due to a woman holding six bonds who emigrated to Australia and presumably forgot to check the monthly draws after she left the UK. In 2007, one of her numbers was drawn and she won £100,000.
The second unclaimed prize of £50,000 belongs to a Briton whose last known address was somewhere in Japan. He’d bought his winning bond in 1993, and its number came up in 2011.
Thousands of expats are the owners of bonds which have won smaller amounts but are so far unclaimed, with the overall total being held against redemption amounting to an amazing £47million. National Savings and Investments, the organisation managing the government’s Premium Bond plan, employs a dedicated team whose job is to track down missing winners, and there’s no expiry date for claiming the prizes.
UK expats as well as residents can hold the certificates as long as they can show a UK bank account, and any winnings are not taxable. According to an NSI spokesperson, the main problem is that bond holders don’t notify the NSI of any change of address.
British expats are also infamous for losing track of their workplace pensions if they frequently change jobs over their working lives. Lapsed bank accounts are another problem, with around £15 million of Britons’ money lodged in suspended accounts, according to the British Bankers’ Association.
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