NS&I Premium Bonds February 2026 winners: two £1 million jackpots, how to check prizes

The February 2026 Premium Bonds draw has produced two new £1 million winners, one in Central Bedfordshire and one in Liverpool, as millions of smaller prizes were paid out across the UK. The results have also renewed attention on a simple problem many bondholders face: prizes can go unclaimed for years unless people actively use the Premium Bonds prize checker or opt into automatic payments.

Two new £1 million winners

The top prizes for February went to two holders who each had the maximum £50,000 invested.

One jackpot winner is based in Central Bedfordshire and held a winning bond bought in February 2022. The other jackpot winner is based in Liverpool and held a winning bond bought in October 2004. Both winners had the same maximum holding, showing how long-held bonds and newer purchases can land the top prize in the same month.

The February prize pool in context

February’s draw distributed more than 6 million prizes in total, with a prize pool of just over £408 million. While the headline focuses on the two £1 million wins, the biggest volume of payouts sits at the bottom of the ladder: the most common prize remains £25.

A monthly draw structure like this can create a “did I win?” surge at the start of each month, especially after big-winner headlines circulate. That’s why search spikes for “ns&i premium bonds winners,” “premium bond winners february 2026,” and “premium bond prize checker” tend to cluster around the first few days of the month.

How to use the Premium Bonds prize checker

For anyone searching “ns&i prize checker,” “premium bonds checker,” “nsi prize checker,” or similar, the key requirement is your holder’s number. It can be found on your bond record or inside your online account. Holder’s numbers can vary in format, but the important point is you need the correct number to check reliably.

There are three practical ways most people check:

• Online checker: Enter a holder’s number to see whether any prizes are due for the current draw and recent draws.

• Official prize-checker app: Lets you check the latest draw, recent draws, and any unclaimed prizes saved against your numbers.

• Paper records and account login: Useful if you’ve forgotten your holder’s number or have older holdings that aren’t part of your everyday banking routine.

If your goal is to stop missing prizes, the most effective setting is choosing direct payment to a bank account (where eligible) or automatic reinvestment rather than waiting for manual checks.

Unclaimed prizes remain a real issue

A striking figure this month is the scale of unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes: more than 2.7 million prizes are still sitting unclaimed, worth nearly £115 million in total.

Unclaimed does not mean “lost forever.” Premium Bonds prizes do not expire, but they can become “out of sight, out of mind” when people move, change emails, or stop using a particular account. The biggest risk group tends to be people who bought bonds long ago, bought them for children, or inherited holdings and never consolidated the records.

Keeping contact details current and setting prizes to be paid automatically are the two simplest ways to reduce the odds that you become part of the unclaimed total.

Key figures from the February 2026 draw

What to watch going into spring 2026

Two factors will shape how attractive Premium Bonds feel over the next few months.

First, the prize-fund rate and the odds can change, and those shifts matter more when interest rates elsewhere are competitive. Second, the experience is distribution-heavy: many people will win small amounts while a tiny number land very large prizes. For savers who value the government-backed structure and the monthly draw, the product remains a popular “safe-and-fun” allocation. For those focused purely on predictable returns, it remains worth comparing alternatives on a like-for-like basis.

For now, the February draw’s main takeaway is simple: the “premium bond checker” habit matters. With unclaimed prizes still near nine figures, the practical value of taking two minutes to run the prize checker can be higher than most people expect.

Sources consulted: NS&I; Moneyweek; The Independent; LoveMoney