You could still win Premium Bonds prize years after draw takes place as August winners to be revealed next week

The start of the month doesn't just mean new opportunities or a fresh start for Premium Bond owners.

Twelve times each year, anyone who has participated in the government-backed savings product will have an opportunity to win prizes, which range from £25 to the jackpot of £1 million.

More than 22 million people in the UK own the bonds and the more investments you make into it, the more chances you have of winning the draw, which usually takes place on the first day of every month.

However, in August, users will have to wait until Monday to find out if they've won anything of note, since the draw always takes place on the first working day of the month.

If you have claimed a maximum prize, which might be a little likelier after they recently boosted the odds, you'll have someone from the National Savings and Investments team come and visit you at home, so maybe offer them a cup of tea as they are probably about to hand over a life-changing amount of money.

Every £1 in premium bonds enters you into the draw (Getty Stock)

But unless you're regularly checking the app or your emails, you might not even be aware of your winnings, particularly if you just choose to re-invest whatever you win into your Premium Bonds account.

There are also cases where prizes can be re-assigned, meaning that you might pick up an extra boost in your account potentially days, months or even years after the draw was made.

Phil Maciver spoke to Daily Mail about his 'surprise' when he was assigned a £50 prize in late April 2021, given it was several weeks after the draw had taken place.

Phil said: "You know, you get up in the morning and you check your emails and this email came through from NS&I saying; "congratulations, you've won a prize."

"I thought; 'oh yes please,' so I went straight in and looked and it said I’d won £50.

"I knew it was weird but I checked my account and sure enough, £50 was in it. I’ve never had this in my life. I just got £50 out the blue!"

You could win £1 million tax free (Getty Stock)

This likely occurred because sometimes prizes can be reallocated to another person, if the original winner is considered ineligible to win the prize.

This happens when they already have the maximum of £50k in Premium Bonds and don't cash the prize in, or if they have died and NS&I haven't been made aware.

Phil added: "Lots of people probably wouldn’t have noticed it. People have Premium Bonds and the money goes in the bank and they couldn’t even tell you how much they’ve won that month. They just put it in and forget about it.

"I’m sure about 99 per cent of the people who hold Premium Bonds don’t realise if they’ve received a reallocated prize - unless a substantial amount of money comes in.

"Otherwise if it's just dribbles, no one really checks. It’s like getting a tax rebate, half the people don’t even notice. It’s like the dark side to Premium Bonds - or the good side really."

So, don't worry if your prize this month is a bit delayed and if you do get an extra win a long time after the draw, you now know the likely reason why.