£1 Million Prize Expires As £76 Million Deadline Gets Nearer
Last Updated: Thursday 29th November 2018, 13:15
A £1 million lottery prize in South Lanarkshire has gone begging this week after the winner didn’t come forward to claim the money. It comes as the winner of a £76 million jackpot from early November is also still to claim the prize.
Scottish Player Misses Out On a Million
The £1 million prize should have been paid out to a player from South Lanarkshire in Scotland, who bought a ticket for the EuroMillions draw on 30th May. That lucky ticket featured a winning code for the UK Millionaire Maker raffle, which would have made its owner a millionaire. Despite a campaign to find the ticket holder, however, they didn’t step up to claim the prize before the 180-day deadline.
Andy Carter, the National Lottery’s Senior Winners Advisor, had this to say: “Unfortunately, I can confirm that the ticket-holder did not come forward within the deadline to claim their prize and has now sadly missed out on this substantial amount of money.
“To avoid this unfortunate situation happening again, I would urge all National Lottery players to check their tickets on a regular basis. We tried very hard to find the ticket-holder and it’s a real shame that they have missed out, but there is still one winner – the nation.”
Any prize money that is left unclaimed goes into the National Lottery’s Good Causes fund, which provides important money for charitable projects and non-profit organizations through the United Kingdom. To date, more than £38 billion has been raised for good causes, helping over half a million projects.
This situation is not uncommon, as millions in prize money is left unclaimed every year. At the time of writing, there is over £84 million waiting to be claimed by UK lottery players. See the Unclaimed Prizes page for more information.
£76 Million Winner Still to Claim
The bulk of that sum comes from one £76 million jackpot that has yet to be claimed. It was won by one UK ticket holder in the EuroMillions draw that took place on 2nd November. In an effort to find the winner, National Lottery officials recently disclosed that the winning ticket was bought in the Boston and Skegness area.
The winner has until 1st May to claim the multi-million pound prize, but if they don’t it will go down as the biggest amount ever to go unclaimed in National Lottery history. Spokesperson Andy Carter said the lottery is “desperate” to unite the winner with their newfound wealth, but it is unlikely that any further information will be released to the public until they do come forward, in order to protect their anonymity.
It may be that the winner is taking their time to get their affairs in order before coming forward, to make it easier to adjust to their newfound wealth. Although they are legally allowed to remain anonymous, they will require the services of lawyers and financial advisors to ensure the money is properly handled and that all the necessary protections are in place.
While the wait goes on, the EuroMillions jackpot continues to climb again, and it is already up to £43 million after a triple rollover. If you want to be in with a chance of winning, buy a ticket from any licensed retailer or choose your numbers online.
