The first bond number from October’s draw was 284MT463803 and is held by a winner based in Greater Manchester. The winner has the maximum holding of £50,000 and bought the lucky bond in October 2016. They become just the third millionaire winner from Greater Manchester.

The second Premium Bonds millionaire is based in West Scotland and holds winning number 159TJ094783. This winner also has the maximum £50,000 deposited in Premium Bonds and purchased their winning bond in September 2009. This win makes them the third millionaire from the region.

Andrew Westhead, NS&I retail director, said: “Huge congratulations to this month’s millionaires from Greater Manchester and West Scotland. We hope the jackpot is a nice treat for them in time for autumn.

“Premium Bonds aren’t just about winning the jackpot. This month, we paid over five million prizes worth more than £470m, including 90 people winning £100,000. Congratulations to all our winners.”

More chance of winning Premium Bonds

In October, there were 121.5 billion eligible numbers for the draw. Since the first draw in 1957, ERNIE – Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment – has drawn 649 million prizes with a total value of £27.7bn.

In summer, NS&I confirmed the Premium Bonds prize fund rate would increase from 4% to 4.65% in September’s draw, taking it to the highest level in 24 years.

However, Premium Bonds aren’t like normal savings accounts as they don’t pay interest. Instead, the interest that should be paid is used to fund the monthly prize draw.

The odds of winning also improved from 22,000-to-one to 21,000-to-one, meaning each £1 bond has the best chance of being drawn since April 2008.

Now, while the millionaires are informed of their life-changing win on the first working day of the month, for everyone else, you need to wait until Tuesday 3 October to find out if you’ve won anything at all.

You can use the nsandi.com prize checker, official prize checker app or an Alexa-enabled device from tomorrow. To check, customers will need their Premium Bonds holder’s number to use the website and the NS&I number or holder’s number to check via the prize checker app.

However, you can get a sneak peek of the ‘high value winners’  (£5,000+) here today, which gives the prize value, the winning bond number, the holding, area and the date the winning bond number was purchased.

Unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes

Premium Bonds prize winners are notified when they win a prize, but sometimes people move or change their contact details without letting NS&I know which can lead to unclaimed prizes, particularly where holders opt to receive prizes by cheque.

In Greater Manchester, there are 48,413 unclaimed prizes worth £1.6m. The largest unclaimed prize in Greater Manchester is worth £100,000, from the September 2010 draw and the oldest unclaimed prize is from the December 1963 prize draw for £25.

In West Scotland, there are 14,190 unclaimed prizes with a total value of £432,325. The largest unclaimed prize is £25,000 and this was from the February 2018 prize draw. The oldest unclaimed prize in West Scotland is from June 1961 for £50.

In total, £80m in unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes is up for grabs.

To ensure you don’t miss out, you can set prizes to be automatically paid into a bank account or reinvested into more Premium Bonds.