Brits urged to check lotto tickets as £3m in National Lottery prizes remains unclaimed – you’ve got weeks to get cash
BRITS have been urged to check their lottery tickets as £3.3million remains untouched.
The National Lottery has revealed the winning numbers of those sitting on their life-changing cash prizes without knowing it.
Some lucky punters have just weeks until the deadline to claim their jackpot – totalling an eye-watering £3,247,215.
Among them are seven players who could start off 2023 with fortune and success.
They include:
- Two potential millionaires in the Borough of Tewkesbury and of Hertsmere after their numbers were drawn on September 9 and November 11 respectively – the prize would make them as rich as Hailey Bieber‘s dad, Stephen Baldwin.
- Another lucky punter is also Set For Life in the London Borough of Havering as £10,000 could be theirs each month for the next year.
- A player in South Cambridgeshire District could also bag themselves nearly £840,000 making them richer than New Jersey Real Housewife Teresa GIudice.
The Set For Life winner will find their prize has expired on February 11.
And the two £1 million jackpot winners have until March 8 and May 5 to claim their money.
In the London Borough of Ealing someone is unknowingly sitting on almost £67,000 – but this will no longer be available from February 15 next year.
Elsewhere in the country, one ticket holder in the Borough of Sandwell could claim £167,275 if they check their numbers that were drawn on November 18.
Their deadline to come forward is May 17 this year.
There is also a prize winning family in Pembrokeshire who won £55,086 on December 20 last year but didn’t check their numbers.
They will have until June 18 later this year to claim the money.
This month, a Set For Life winner in the London Borough of Bromley made their deadline and bagged themselves £120,000 across the next year.
What will happen to the unclaimed prizes?
Any cash that isn’t claimed after a total of 180 days from a game played in the UK goes to the National Lottery’s Good Causes fund instead.
If the deadline is missed, the ticket officially expires and the owner will no longer be able to take their winnings.
This will usually then go on to help fund things like sport programmes or local community buildings or other projects.
They can range from small to the big aids, such as funding towards training up Olympic athletes.
In Ireland, unsuspecting winners have only 90 days before the prize money is off the table.
Previous big wins
In July 2022, one lucky UK winner scooped a record-breaking £195million EuroMillions jackpot after the huge cash prize rolled over.
Britain’s previous EuroMillions record holders were Joe and Jess Thwaite.
The couple won a record-breaking £184million jackpot in May 2022 and the family shared hopes of a Hawaiian holiday and a new horse box for their children’s ponies.
Another UK winner who’s whole life was altered was a player who wanted to remain anonymous on October 8, 2019 – they walked off with a cool £170,221,000.
Some of the other biggest EuroMillions winners include Colin and Chris Weir who took home £161million, Adrian and Gillian Bayford who scooped £148.6million and Frances and Patrick Connolly who won £114.9million.
Frances and her husband gave away an astonishing £60million of their winnings to 50 immediate family and friends and went on to help 175 other people and multiple charities.