UK National Lotto | Unclaimed Prizes

Millions of people around Britain play the UK National lotto each week in the hope that they can secure that life changing jackpot. You would therefore think that these people would be desperate to check their tickets as soon as the draw has taken place to see if their dreams have been answered. You may therefore be quite surprised when I tell you that a staggering amount of prize money never gets claimed.

The UK National lotto is constantly sitting on vast sums of prize money that they are just waiting to be claimed. In just the five month period from September 2008 to February 2009 just under £4 million still remains unclaimed by players of just the UK lotto game. These are not just a mass of small prizes either; there are many exceeding £10,000, a handful in excess of £100,000 as well as one prize of more than £1.5 million.

If you have gone to the effort to play the UK National lotto, make a habit of checking your ticket numbers as soon as the draw has taken place. If you have won a prize, claim it as soon as possible because the UK National lotto rules stipulate that any prize that has not been claimed within six months will be distributed among charitable organisations.

The principle reason given by individuals as to why they do not claim their lottery wins is because they have lost their tickets. I’m sure most of us have lost a lottery ticket at some point and have desperately tried to find it in time for the draw but to no avail.

Depending on the size of your UK National lotto win, there are different ways in which you claim your winnings. If your prize is under £200, you can pick up your money from any UK National lotto retailer in the UK. When your prize money falls between £200 and £500 some lotto retailers may still pay out this sum but for those who don’t you will need to claim your prize at the post office instead.

When claiming UK National lotto prizes of between £500 and £50,000 again the post office can be used as your port of call. You will be required to complete a claim form, provide your winning ticket as evidence as well as show your proof of identification before being issued a cheque for your prize. Such prize sums can also be claimed by post from the National lottery head quarters. Again you will need to fill out a claim form and send your winning ticket as proof of your win. If you choose to claim your prize in this way, photocopy your winning ticket for your records and then send the original via recorded delivery.

When you are fortunate enough to be claiming a UK National lotto prize in excess of £50,000, you have to visit one of the National lottery’s regional centres and make your claim in person.

If you want to avoid ever joining the long line of people missing out on claiming their UK National lotto winnings, you should set up a subscription service with the UK National lottery directly. By doing this your ticket payments will always be taken on time and you will be notified of any prizes coming your way shortly after each draw. Playing in this way will ensure that you never fail to claim prize money that is rightfully yours.