An interesting/depressing (choose your own adjective) story here
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/News/Question1467233.html
leads me to a more general question :
Why should anyone on benefits bother with the lottery?
Presumably very small wins (perhaps up to £100?) would be ignored, but after that it appears that your benefits would be reduced/stopped until your winnings are deemed to be used up? Then you'd have the pain of making a new claim and starting again.
Note that I said 'deemed to be' - blowing the lot very quickly would seem not to be an option.
As Ellipsis said on the other thread - "They had a nice life, supported by benefits. Then they were unlucky enough to win the lottery. As a result, it's all gone pear-shaped for them - they would have been better off not winning!"
So should they be told "don't bother playing"?
[ perhaps we can stick to general points here - the specific case is still being discussed on the thread linked above ]