A total of £20,000 in prize money has never been collected by more than 100 winners in Prize Bond draws over the years.
A total sum of £20,000 in Prize Bonds winnings remains uncollected, including one prize of £5,000. Many are prizes of £100 but,
One owner won a cool £5,000 with his bond ten years ago, and the cash is still waiting to be claimed.
This prize, drawn in June 1971, was won by an American who gave an Irish hotel address. He has never been traced despite a search involving the US Embassy.
A Prize Bond draw takes place every week. £54 million worth of bonds currently compete for £20,000 worth of prizes weekly.
Since the Irish Prize Bond scheme started in 1957, only 151 prizes have remained unclaimed, all but one for £100. A list of the unclaimed bonds can be seen at the Prize Bonds Office in Dublin.
The Prize Bonds Office frequently makes appeals to bondholders to inform them of any change of address. Many never do, and so cannot be traced. Assistant manager of the Prize Bonds Office Dermot Hyland explains they write to winners at their last known address,
On occasions, we do not get a reply to our letters and sometimes the prize claim is returned by the Post Office.
In the event of a prize going unclaimed it is put on an account in the name of the Department of Finance in the Bank of Ireland Prize Bond Office
The advice Dermot Hyland offers to those discovering they have one of the missing bonds;
They should get in touch with us immediately.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 11 February 1981. The reporter is Kieron Wood.
