A lottery player who scooped almost £3.7 million on the Euromillions has lost the prize forever after the deadline passed for them to claim their prize.
The winning ticket was purchased in South Gloucestershire for the Euromillions draw made on October 8, 2019 - and the rules state if the prize isn't claimed within 180 days, or just under six months, then it's gone.
The money they would've won totalled £3,696,996 and 80p, but the deadline of midnight on April 5 came and went with no phone call to Camelot HQ.
Camelot’s Andy Carter, Senior Winners’ Advisor at The National Lottery, said, “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.
“In the current situation and to avoid this unfortunate situation happening again, we’re urging all National Lottery players to play and check their tickets online at national-lottery.co.uk or by downloading the National Lottery app, and only buy their tickets in retail as part of their essential shop. Playing online via the website or app means that your ticket is checked and you get an email if you are a winner.
"The National Lottery app will also scan your draw based games retail tickets to check if you are a winner," he added.
The money they missed out on will go into the National Lottery Good Causes pot, which at the moment is pumping up to £30 million a week into supporting vulnerable communities .
A spokesperson for Camelot said hundreds of millions of pounds will be distributed to charities and local voluntary organisations over the next few months to help support people through the Covid-19 crisis - from helping support food banks to causes that combat loneliness and isolation, support for the elderly and projects that support health in the community
If players have any concerns about not being able to get in-store to claim a lower-tier prize, they can get in touch with us (0333 234 50 50), but we would encourage people not to get in touch with us unless they have a ticket nearing the end of the 180-day claim period.
Anyone concerned about lost or unchecked tickets may like to consider either setting up a National Lottery Direct Debit or playing online at www.national-lottery.co.uk. Numbers can be entered in advance and lucky winners are notified online if their numbers come up. For further information call 0333 234 4433 or visit www.national-lottery.co.uk.
