Dear LPG.  

When the average Brit thinks of winning money these days, the first thing we tend to do is get a lottery ticket, and most of us pensioners will remember when the National Lottery was launched  

That all started in November 1994, but some 38 years earlier, another computer was calculating numbers that produced winners too.  In the November of 1956 the NSI’s computer, called Ernie, began choosing winners for premium bond holders, and although many of those winners don’t appear to win as dramatically, you could say that you are guaranteed to keep your initial outlay. 

The UK lottery numbers are chosen by 6 computers with the names Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Merlin, Vyvyan, and Galahad, while those of us who are old enough will remember Ernie as the name given to the computer that works out who the premium bond winners are all on its own.  (To be fair, all of those computers have been upgraded over the years).  

We all hear about the really big lottery wins, and it is true that though premium bond wins tend to be smaller, there is an aspect of ‘little and often’ attached to them.   It has to be said that those bonds are not a bad way of investing money and, while it is all about the luck of the draw, the internet has evidence that you are more likely to have more small wins having invested your money there than you would in the average savings account these days.  The other thing to remember is that even if you don’t win anything, you never lose your original stake. 

My message was not supposed to be an advert for them though.   I want to remind readers that so many of us older people got them as presents back in the day or bought them and now have no idea where the documents are.   

I remember when winners were informed automatically, but the news is full of stories about the £92 million worth of prizes waiting to be claimed.  They do try to notify everyone but, for instance, when anyone moves, there are so many agencies and other people to notify that the NS&I might be pretty near the bottom of your priority list, or forgotten altogether.   

So can I be the one to remind readers that it might be a good idea to find your Holder’s number and take a look at the internet to see if any of that £92 million belongs to you…  

LO, Catford.  

 

 

LO shares her findings…

 

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… how to check…

 

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…and a memory of the other Ernie mentioned in the title of her message…

 

 

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