There are more than two million Premium Bond prizes unclaimed worth a combined total of £79.4 million according to the latest figures from National Savings and Investments (NS&I).

Premium Bonds are a type of government-run lottery, where interest earned by the government on bonds bought by the general public is paid out to winners whose numbers are randomly drawn each month.

The latest figures show that there are 55,017 unclaimed prizes in the North East.

Across the UK, there are five unclaimed prizes of £100,000 and nine worth £50,000.

NS&I says it contacts every winner by their preferred method - either by text, email or post - but prizes can go unclaimed for a number of reasons such as not updating details after moving house.

In the last twelve months alone the number of unclaimed prizes in the UK has increased by 189,630 to a total of 2,269,198.

If you want to double-check if you've won and can't find anything in old emails or letters, you can check online through a number of ways.

  • Log in to NS&I's website. You'll need your NS&I number, surname and account password.
  • Use NS&I's Premium Bonds prize checker tool. You'll need your Premium Bond-holder's number to do so – this is separate from your NS&I number.
  • Use NS&I's prize checker app. This is available for free from the Apple App Store and Google Play. To access your account, you'll need your Premium Bond-holder's number or your NS&I number.
  • Write to NS&I. You'll need to include your name, address and NS&I number or Premium Bond-holder's number. Send letters to NS&I, Sunderland, SR43 2SB.

There's no time limit for claiming prizes, and with Premium Bonds being introduced in 1956 it's no wonder so many unclaimed prizes have accumulated.

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