The Reason Lottery Players are Missing Out on Millions in Prizes
Last Updated: Thursday 24th September 2020, 14:15
National Lottery players are missing out on millions of pounds in prizes due to them, and there could be a very simple reason why. There are currently nine Lotto Millionaire Raffle and EuroMillions Millionaire Maker prizes yet to be claimed by ticket holders, leading some lottery fans to suggest that players are still not used to checking their raffle codes after they have looked up the main draw numbers.
Lotto Millionaire Raffle
Lotto Millionaire Raffle replaced Lotto Raffle in October 2015, guaranteeing at least one player in each draw will win £1 million and a further 20 will take home £20,000. A Raffle code, consisting of a four-letter colour followed by an eight-digit number, is automatically generated on a player’s ticket for every Lotto line they play.
Only codes generated for that particular draw are entered, meaning that someone will definitely win on the night. However, like with all Lotto prizes, a claim must be staked within 180 days of the winning draw. If a player forgets to look up the winning codes, they could miss out on the chance to be a millionaire.
A Lotto Millionaire Raffle prize of £1 million, on a ticket bought in Milton Keynes, is set to expire next week if no one comes forward. The successful player matched the code BLUE 6946 0642 on Wednesday 15th February, but has so far remained quiet and, if they do not present their ticket to lottery bosses before the end of Monday 14th August, the cash will be transferred to the lottery’s Good Causes fund.
Millionaire Maker
The UK’s supplementary EuroMillions game creates two £1 million winners in each draw, in a similar manner to the Lotto Millionaire Raffle. The game started as Millionaire Raffle in 2009, before becoming Millionaire Maker in October 2014. Initially, there was one guaranteed winner in each draw, but that was doubled in September 2016, when a number of changes were made to EuroMillions
Players from Dundee and Harrow will miss out on Mega Week Millionaire Maker awards of £1 million and a luxury safari in South Africa if they fail to claim by Sunday 24th and Wednesday 27th September, respectively. See the Unclaimed Prizes page for more details.
How to Avoid Missing Out on a Huge Lottery Prize
National-Lottery.com’s lottery checkers for Lotto and EuroMillions both provide raffle checkers too, that can tell you instantly if you are due a seven-figure sum. Whether you choose your numbers online or play at a retailer, it is hugely important to check every game into which you have been entered so you don’t miss out on a life-changing award.