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NS&I has issued a response after a person asked why all the Premium Bonds seem to people in the western side of England.
Twitter user @gpmailbox asked the provider: “It seems that almost all higher value #PremiumBond prizes go to western side (North-West-South) of England. Are you using dummy bond numbers too to keep the odds of winning steady?”
In the October prize draw, there were several top prizes in these areas, including one of the £1million jackpot winners, who was from Manchester.
Among the £100,000 winners, there was a person from Wiltshire in the west of England, although people from a variety of areas took home big cash prizes.
NS&I responded to clarify the group does not use dummy numbers in deciding the winners.
The group said: “There couldn’t be any based on how the draw works. ERNIE generates numbers and numbers and we match the numbers to numbers held by customers, therefore “dummy numbers” cannot be entered into the draw.”
The person then asked what happens if ERNIE generates a number that does not match a Bond held by a customer.
NS&I said: “We generate more numbers than we need, in case there are ineligible winners. However, we will always generate enough numbers for all prizes.
“So all prizes are matched to winning numbers. There are no dummy numbers.”
The person then asked if this means that the ERNIE system effectively generates numbers until all the prizes are matched with a saver.
NS&I said in response: “More accurately, Ernie generates numbers. Then once we have all our numbers, we match them to customers.”
Each £1 Bond has an equal chance of winning a prize in the monthly prize draw as winners are chosen completely at random.
The monthly prize draw includes two £1million jackpot prizes and several large prizes for £100,000 and £50,000.
Many savers who win a prize reinvest their winnings by buying more Bonds, which ups their chances of winning again.
A person can hold up to £50,000 in Premium Bonds and whenever a person purchases Bonds, they have to buy at least £25 worth.
For the latest personal finance news, follow us on Twitter at @ExpressMoney_.
