Supporting Premium Bonds jackpot winners

When NS&I’s ‘Agent Million’ tells a customer the exciting news that they have won the Premium Bonds £1 million jackpot, they give the lucky winner a pack to explain the next steps. This includes details of how our customer can find high quality financial advice.

As NS&I can’t give the winner financial advice ourselves, we strongly encourage them to have an exploratory call or initial meeting with a qualified Financial Planner.

We point them to the CISI’s and PFS’s online search databases to help them find the most appropriate Certified or Chartered Financial Planner to meet their needs. If the customer doesn’t have online access, Agent Million will help them with this search.

There are currently two winners of the £1 million Premium Bonds jackpot every month, and these customers could contact you for advice if you are a Certified or Chartered Financial Planner.

No doubt most of you will have had experience of dealing with wealthy customers, there are some additional things to consider when dealing with a Premium Bonds jackpot winner:

• It may be a new experience for the winner to have a large sum of money. While it will be exciting news for them, they may also feel shocked and destabilised by the news and unsure of what to do.

• It is very important that the winners do not do anything too hastily. For example, telling family and friends the news early on before they’ve had time to consider all the implications. In a worst-case scenario this could lead to financial abuse

• Many winners are keen to keep their win confidential, so please don’t publicise anything, especially on social media, regarding the client’s name and location.

• Winners may not have any previous experience of financial advice or financial planning, and so would no doubt appreciate an introduction to these services and the differences between them.

• If the jackpot winner is a child, it’s important to stress to the parents that the jackpot money is legally the child’s and not the parents’ money.

It’s worth making sure that your profiles on the CISI and PFS websites are up to date with these accreditations, so the jackpot winners can select the most appropriate adviser for their needs.

We’d expect that the initial exploratory discussion with a jackpot winner would be free, but that your firm’s normal charges will apply after that if the winner decides to use your services.

If you have any questions, please contact our Adviser Helpline on 0800 092 1228. We’ll be happy to help.