When is the Premium Bonds draw? Date May 2021 winners and prizes are announced - and how to use NS&I checker

Each month, National Savings and Investment (NS&I) announce the winners of their monthly Premium Bonds prize draw, which could see some lucky customers bagging a top prize of £1 million.

This is what you need to know about the May 2021 Premium Bonds prize draw, and how to check if you’ve won any money.

When is the May 2021 Premium Bonds draw?

The draw usually takes place a few days before the end of the month, to allow NS&I to make all the relevant checks before announcing the lucky winners on the first working day of the month.

The full prize draw results are then made available on the NS&I prize checker the day after the first working day of the month.

Because May began at the weekend and Monday is a bank holiday, the May 2021 Premium Bonds winners won’t be announced until Tuesday 4 May, as this is the first working day of the month, and the full list of winners won’t be made available until Wednesday 5 May.

How can I check if I’ve won?

The quickest way to find out if you’ve won a prize is to use the NS&I prize checker, which is an online tool which will show you this month’s prizes and anything you’ve won in the previous six draws, as well as any older prizes that you haven’t claimed yet.

The prize checker is updated on the day after the first working day of each month.

Simply enter your unique holder’s number into the tool. You can find your holder’s number on your Bond record by logging into the NS&I online service. The number will have either 10 or nine digits, or eight digits followed by a letter.

What happens if I win?

For most prizes, NS&I will either pay them straight into your bank account, or reinvest them into more Bonds, depending on what you’ve asked them to do.

You’ll also be alerted that you’ve won a prize either by email or text message.

If you’ve won a prize of £5,000 or more, you won’t be paid automatically. Instead, NS&I will need to check with you first by sending a claim form in the post for you to complete and confirm how you would like to be paid.

If you’ve been lucky enough to win the million pound jackpot, usually an “Agent Million” will visit you in person to give you the good news. However, given the current circumstances regarding the Covid-19 pandemic, these face to face visits have been put on pause.

What prizes are up for grabs?

Available prizes are split into three value bands - higher, medium and lower.

These are the prizes up for grabs and how many of each prize NS&I estimates will be given away.

Higher value:

- £1 million, estimated May 2021 draw: two

- £100,00, estimated May 2021 draw: five

- £50,000, estimated May 2021 draw: nine

- £25,000, estimated May 2021 draw: 20

- £10,000, estimated May 2021 draw: 49

- £5,000, estimated May 2021 draw: 97

Medium value:

- £1,000, estimated May 2021 draw: 1,771

- £500, estimated May 2021 draw: 5,313

Lower value:

- £100, estimated May 2021 draw: 28,765

- £50, estimated May 2021 draw: 28,765

- £25, estimated May 2021 draw: 3,014,505