Is NS&I playing hard to get because I’ve won a million-pound prize?

Q My husband and I were going through some old papers and found an old Premium Bond worth £5 with my name on it. The date stamp on it was the date of my 21st birthday, so it must have been a present. It would have been issued in my maiden name.

I phoned NS&I to see if I had won anything in the past 60 years. I was told I would need to update NS&I’s records to reflect the change of surname, and also my different address. I was asked to send a copy of my marriage certificate and my driver’s licence to prove who I was. I duly did this, and in response NS&I sent me a list of my bond holdings. However, the bond in question was not listed.

It still has not told me if the bond has ever won anything. One of my addresses had been the subject of a redevelopment into flats, so any correspondence sent there was unlikely to have reached me. Is NS&I lacking in transparency on unclaimed bond prizes and does it ever go out of its way to trace big winners? – AE, via email

A You tried to use NS&I’s official bond checker but it would only let you look up prizes on your bond holders list. It has left you wondering whether this bond you received on your 21st birthday in 1958 might have made you a millionaire without you knowing.

You imagined how different your life might have been with an extra million in the bank, mentally moving yourself into larger homes, travelling the world and deciding which of your loved ones to treat.

Although unlikely, it would not be the first time someone with a tiny Premium Bond holding had won the jackpot. In July 2004 a woman from Newham, east London, won the £1m jackpot with a £3 bond holding that had been purchased in February 1959. She had a total holding of £17 and when she purchased the bond the maximum prize was just £1,000.

However, regrettably, this tiny little bubble of hope you had been holding on to has now burst. It gave me no pleasure to break the news to you that you had no outstanding prizes to be claimed on any bond, including the £5 one you received on your 21st birthday.

I know you had been harbouring suspicions that NS&I might be conveniently holding on to your prize money and, perhaps deliberately, making it difficult for you – and others – to claim. But contrary to your fears, NS&I actually publishes a list of unclaimed prizes dating back to 1957 on its website once a year. It has also successfully tracked down every single one of the 494 jackpot winners since the million-pound prize was introduced in 1994.

I’m sorry I haven’t delivered the news you hoped for. However, you say you now have peace of mind at least.