Changes to the rules of the National Lottery mean some winners are struggling to get their hands on their prize money. The National Lottery was taken over by Allwyn, a multi-national lottery operator, from Camelot in February of this year and with the acquisition new rules have emerged.
This has changed the way winners are able to collect their prize money as the Post Office are no longer handing out rewards in the same way as previously. This means that many have been left waiting weeks for their money to come through.
The new rules stipulate that winners of between £500 and £50,000 on lottery games must follow a new online process to receive their money providing their name, address, contact details, and email address – as well as a prize claim form – within 180 days of their win. They must also send their physical ticket into the office. But this has led to huge delays for some winners who previously would have been able to pick up their money within hours or days of their win, reports the Mirror.
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Sergei Cofie-Squire, from Liverpool, won £1,500 with a ticket he purchased from WHSmith on March 19 but is still waiting to receive his money. The 61-year-old has planned to spend his winnings on a holiday to Dubai but has expressed his frustration that despite sending in his ticket weeks ago, he still hasn't seen a penny.
He told the Liverpool Echo: "I have been in touch many times because I won on March 19. I have followed all the procedures and I'm still waiting. I've rang numerous times. Half the time I felt like I was talking to a brick wall. I could understand a seven-day delay but not four weeks, which is unacceptable."
Describing what's happened he said: £On March 19 I won the £1,500 so I went to the Post Office to try and collect my cheque but I was told a new company had taken over. They give you a website you go to and put in all the details required, which is a photo of the winning ticket, front and back, and they then send you a QR code. Then you have to go to the Post Office with that code and post the original ticket to them [Allwyn]."
Despite having proof that Allwyn received his ticket on April 4 Sergei said he finds it frustrating waiting for his winnings due to the "inherited problems" at the company. He said: "Why do I have to wait so long to collect my winnings? I'm told it's a teething problem but I say they should have thought of that before switching over. It's beginning to feel like a joke. All the processes I have gone through and I've heard nothing from them.
"They have to see my point. I played the lottery and paid my money and have won fairly and have verified my ticket. But up to now I have been dragged from pillar to post. If there is a problem they should make an official announcement so people don't get frustrated."
In response to the situation a spokesman for Allwyn said: "This is a new claims process we've had to introduce following the Post Office's decision to no longer pay National Lottery retail prizes between £500.01 and £50,000. As a result of it being new we've been experiencing higher volumes of players contacting us and some initial delays to players receiving their prizes.
"We've since increased the number of colleagues to assist with claims which is helping us send out prizes more quickly and are continuing to work to make improvements to the process. For example we recently started a trial where anyone winning under £1,000 no longer needs to send in their winning ticket to us to help speed up the process. We're also reminding players that prizes of up to £500 can still be paid out in store."
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