Winning Lottery Ticket

[10ClarionSt]

I think it's despicable of Camelot that they're not doing all they can to trace the winner of the �9M prize.

Why don't they say which shop sold it? Why don't they say what time it was purchased? Why aren't they reminding people of events on that day? e.g. it was sold on 6th July 2005. This was the day that London won the Olympic bid. Am I doing their job for them?

What's the big deal if they want the winner to come forward? Come on Camelot! Get doing your job properly!

[Drisgirl]

I absolutely agree with you - they usually have straw hats and trumpets - parading round the town where it was bought.Loads of reminders.I am astounded it has to be claimed within 6 months - is this a new policy or has that always been the case?What if you are otherwise engaged for 6 months and arent able to check your ticket?I suppose the fact it wont be claimed and there has only been a smidgeon of publicity means it will go to the common good fund (whatever that is!)

[gary baldy]

What more do you want them to do?
Im sure they did publish all the things you mention at some point and you know about it so i'm presuming lots of other people do aswell.
I dont do the lottery so i dont care who has who hasnt won in any given week but if i did do it i would make sure that i found out if i had won or not. Serves em right if they miss out on the prize cos they cant be bothered to check their own numbers! (does that sound harsh?)
I'm sure the 9mil will go somewhere more deserving anyway
( i have several moral objections to the lottery anyway if you hadn't guessed already)

[joko]

i know what you mean, but actually they are not obliged to even tell anyone about it let alone launch a nationwide search.

its not their fault some eejit hasn't claimed their ticket.

its your responsibility not theirs

although if they are going to the effort of having it announced on the news they should give full details of the date and shop etc, not just the numbers.

though i think expecting them to give a mini history lesson to jog peoples memory is a bit much.

[don1]

Drisgirl the way it is run is a disgrace and if the people had any sense they would boycott it.

If you win �10 million and you claim a month too late it's too bad you have lost your right to it, why? what difference does it make to them?

The lottery should be run by the state not by a private company that has made god knows how many tens of millions out of it that should be going into the health service (for example)

[Zen]

I don't think the state running it would help,think of of all the jobs for bureaucrats it would create.However didn't Richard Branson bid to run it as a non profit company which would benefit good causes better ?

[Gef]

If you buy a lottery ticket in a shop it is up to YOU to check it and claim your prize within 180 days - they are the rules. However, if you buy online then they will check it for you and tell you that you have won.

Can't see what the fuss is about.

[ianess]

The 6 month rule has been in existence since the day the lottery started. Camelot have always advised purchasers of tickets to put their name and address on the back [in case of disputes over ticket ownership] but it has always been up to the purchaser to check their own ticket. Anyone buying online gets their ticket checked as a courtesy service, not as a legal requirement.
If you lose your ticket all you've lost is �1.
If you can't afford to lose it, or don't want to abide by the rules, just don't play it. Whoever is to blame for a lost ticket it isn't Camelot.

[jno]

apparently 11 tickets worth more than �1 million have gone unclaimed over the years. The money goes (allegedly) into the good causes fund rather than the directors' pockets. But really, it is up to you to check your tickets. Camelot offer you the chance to win a million, but if people can't be bothered looking at the numbers, whose fault is that? It means fewer extremely dumb people getting undeservedly rich, which can only be a good thing.

[jno]

just a PS 10CSt: if it was sold the day of the Olympic decision, then it was drawn just after the tube bombings. Maybe people just got distracted. Maybe the winner actually died in the explosions.

[logman]

Like some of the others, i was sorry when Richard Branson did'nt get it. If you had several people winning a top prize of one million, and more chances of winning, its got to be better than one person scooping the lot every now and then. The country would be bulging at the seams with millionairs by now!

[vehelpfulguy]

I think the reason they do not give the shop or the time is that they would be swamped by people saying that they bought it at that shop at that time.

By leaving this information out then if someone comes forward to claim the prize (who maybe lost their ticket) the first thing they can ask them is what shop or what time, if they do not give the right shop or time they can be assumed to be lying.

[vehelpfulguy]

Here is a list of some of the unclaimed prizes.

http://www.national-lottery.co.uk/player/p/results/unclaimedPrizes.jsp

[vehelpfulguy]

I think one of the reasons many people do not claim is the confusing number of draws, and people check their ticket against the wrong draw.

There is now Lotto, Lotto Extra, Daily Play, Euro Millions, Lotto Hot Picks, Thunderball (and maybe others)

But they all use the same numbers (start at 1 up to whatever).

Would it not be better if Lotto/Lotto Extra used 1 to 49,

Euro Millions used say 100 to 149, Thunderball 200 to 249, Daily play 300 to 349 and so on.

That way you would be certain you were checking the right ticket against the right draw.

[vehelpfulguy]

NEVER THROW A TICKET AWAY YOU THINK HAS NOT WON.

Take it back to any shop and they can insert it in the machine and it will tell you if you have won. Why not save them up over a few weeks and take 10 in at a time.

Generally about 4% of all lottery prizes remain unclaimed.

[bernardo]

How to buy a lottery ticket:

1. Buy a ticket
2. Keep it in a safe place (until the draw)
3. Check the numbers
4. Go and claim your winnings (if you have won)

If you can't be bothered to do all four stages, then there is no point in bothering to do the first one either. So if someone doesn't do the other steps (especially step 3) then they didn't "really" buy a ticket in the first place - they just donated �1 to the good causes.

[don1]

According to the link supplied by vehelpfulguy, as of yesterday someone in Doncaster forfeited �9.5 million pounds.

[Drisgirl]

The point I was attempting to make albeit potentially highly unlikely was that if you were otherwise engaged e.g you were knocked down by a car and were in hospital going through the long recovery and rehab process,you were jailed,you had to fly to Australia to support your family through a crisis - all reasons that you wouldnt check your ticket.6 months (180 days) is a minor blip in what we would expect to be our life expentancy.

[don1]

Come on Gef a half a century ago if you won the pools they would contact you to let you know you were rich, but now in this computer age they cant do it, ask yourself why?

Some poor b*****d yesterday lost 9.5 million which he was entitled to, suppose he died between putting the bet on and it being drawn then the money should have gone into his estate for his family.It shouldn't be handed back to Camelot who have no right to it whatsoever.

There is no logical reason to have a 180 day limit on claims, the money will be sitting in Camelots account accruing interest, what could be seen to be wrong with that.

[Loosehead]

If you do the same numbers each time you can do it by standing order. I do and forget about it, they check them automatically.

Other than that the lottery is annonimous so there is no way they could do what the Pools used to do.