Moving abroad with Premium Bonds is not just a question of whether to cash them in. The expensive assumption is that a UK product remains straightforward because the Bonds were bought while you lived here. Before you leave, check whether you can legally keep them where you will live, how NS&I will pay you, and how the destination country treats a prize or the holding.
This checklist is for a UK resident moving overseas with an existing holding. It does not decide local permission, destination-country tax, UK tax residence or investment suitability.
1. Check whether Premium Bonds are permitted where you will live
NS&I says that a person living outside the UK should check whether local regulations allow them to hold Premium Bonds. It specifically flags the United States, where gaming and lottery laws can mean that holding them is not possible or practical. That is a local-law question, not something a UK bank account or a UK tax number answers.
Check this before changing a payment method, buying more Bonds or assuming you can keep an existing holding. Use the official financial-services, gaming or tax authority for your destination, or obtain local advice if the rule is not clear.
The End-to-End Moving Abroad Planner is useful now to put this decision beside your departure date, banking change and other closure or retention tasks. Enter the actual planned dates and actions. It cannot establish that Premium Bonds are allowed in a country or decide whether you should cash them in.
2. Update NS&I before an old UK address becomes the contact record
Tell NS&I when you move overseas. Its online account lets registered customers change address and contact details through the profile; Premium Bonds holders who are not registered can use the online change-details process with the holder's number and the old and new details. Do this before a prize, security check or payment instruction relies on an address you no longer control.
Save your holder's number, Bond record, nominated-account details and the email used for notifications. NS&I distinguishes the holder's number from the NS&I number used for the online and phone service, so preserve both where you have them.
Do not confuse a new correspondence address with a verdict on UK tax residence. If the move changes UK days, homes, family or work, run the Quick UK Residency Check using the actual facts. It is a planning screen, not an HMRC determination or a treaty tie-breaker.
3. Protect the payment route before your UK bank account changes
NS&I says its customer agreement requires a UK bank or building society account to operate an account. This matters in particular if your UK bank may close an account for customers resident abroad. NS&I warns that, without another UK account that can accept BACS payments, a warrant may be the alternative and could be costly to deposit abroad; for some NS&I accounts it can mean a one-off closure payment.
Premium Bonds also have an International Payments Service. NS&I's current service document says an eligible holder can link an international account in their own name, select it for prize payments, and receive the payment in the destination currency. Registration is online, and NS&I may ask for identity, address and bank-statement evidence. The actual exchange rate is shown in transaction history within three banking days after payment is initiated.
Use the Currency Cost Calculator once you know whether you will receive sterling to a UK account or a converted payment abroad. Enter the amount, destination currency and likely frequency to compare indicative transfer costs. It is not a quote, does not use NS&I's actual exchange rate and cannot confirm that a payment route will be available.
4. Do not treat a UK tax-free prize as a worldwide tax result
NS&I states that Premium Bonds prizes are free from UK Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax. That describes the UK treatment of the prize; it does not settle the tax or disclosure treatment in the country where you become resident. NS&I also warns that some of its accounts may be liable to local tax and that it gathers information under the Common Reporting Standard where applicable.
Keep an annual record of each prize, payment or reinvestment instruction, sterling amount, payment date, exchange information and the end-of-year holding. The destination country may need a different tax year, conversion date or asset value. Do not assume a tax-free UK prize is invisible in a foreign return, or automatically taxable abroad.
Use the Full Statutory Residence Test if your UK status itself is uncertain. It helps organise days, homes, work and ties, but it does not decide local tax, the treatment of a Premium Bonds prize, or the result of a double-tax treaty.
5. Decide whether to retain or cash in from a documented position
Premium Bonds do not pay regular interest. Each eligible £1 Bond gets an equal chance in the monthly draw, while prize rates and odds are variable. That means a cash-flow plan should not treat a stated prize rate as a promised return, and it should not depend on a win to cover rent, tax or a move deposit.
If you plan to cash in, NS&I says all or part of a holding can be cashed in at any time. Have the holder's number and bank details available; keep the confirmation and receipt. Before a large payment, check local holding permission, payment destination, exchange-cost evidence and the destination-country reporting date.
Consider cross-border tax or legal advice before retaining or cashing in a significant holding if the destination has restricted lottery rules, you have a dual-residence or split-year position, or the move includes investments, a property sale, pension withdrawals or a large transfer. The Annual Cross-Border Tax Review can organise the facts and records for that conversation; it does not calculate destination tax or provide a legal opinion.
Guidance, not advice: ExpatCompass tools help you organise dates, records and indicative costs. They do not determine whether a country permits Premium Bonds, your tax residence, tax due or the suitability of an investment.
Your Premium Bonds moving-abroad order
- Check the destination's rule on holding Premium Bonds before departure or any further purchase.
- Save the holder's number, Bond record, prize history, NS&I contact details and nominated-account information.
- Update your overseas address and contact details with NS&I.
- Confirm the UK-bank requirement and, if appropriate, set up and evidence an eligible international payment route in your own name.
- Keep a dated record of prizes, payments, sterling values, exchange information and the holding for the destination-country return.
- Check UK residence separately from the account address and obtain local advice where permission or local tax is unclear.
- Only retain or cash in from a documented position, rather than relying on an old UK address or a past prize rate.
The useful outcome is not simply keeping a familiar UK account after the move. It is knowing that the holding is permitted, contactable, payable and supported by records that work in both countries.