National Savings & Investments is messing with Premium Bond prize odds again – and it’s blaming the Treasury
Three short years after the Premium Bonds prize fund was cut, get ready to do some more heavy fist-shaking: National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has decided to change the odds again – and it's blaming the Treasury.
Is there any end to the wrath George Osborne is to endure? In a statement today, NS&I said new requirements for net financing from the Treasury meant it had to cut odds to "manage demand … and deliver positive value to taxpayers".
"It is always a difficult decision to reduce rates but downwards movements in interest rates across the cash savings market mean that our rates have risen in the competitor tables," added Jane Platt, NS&I's chief executive.
Read more: A new generation of private sector Premium Bonds – and four other ways to transform the UK
What does that mean for savers? From 6 June, the odds of winning on the Premium Bonds will rise from 26,000 to one to 30,000 to one.
Meanwhile, the total value of prizes will fall from £67.6m to £62.9m, while the total number of prizes will drop from 2.3m to 2m.
And the number of prizes worth more than £5,000 will fall from seven per cent of the prize fund to five per cent, while those worth £25 and upwards will rise from 88 per cent to 90 per cent.
How your Premium Bond odds look now
| Value of prizes | Number of prizes in March 2016 | Number of prizes in June 2016 (estimate) |
| £1,000,000 | 2 | 2 |
| £100,000 | 5 | 2 |
| £50,000 | 12 | 5 |
| £25,000 | 22 | 9 |
| £10,000 | 53 | 24 |
| £5,000 | 110 | 46 |
| £1,000 | 1,352 | 1,257 |
| £500 | 4,056 | 3,771 |
| £100 | 18,503 | 64,198 |
| £50 | 18,503 | 64,198 |
| £25 | 2,267,978 | 1,879,199 |
| Total: | 2,310,596 | 2,012,711 |