This lucky Scot claimed the prize a month after their numbers 5,7,8,16,20 and Lucky Stars 1 and 12 were drawn on the 17th of March. The enormous winning amount was £57,859,670 (approx. R1,183,427,756.04).
But on the 19th of May, it was reported by The Scottish Sun that the prize money has still not been paid out to the winner and that the prize still reflects “unclaimed” on the National Lottery website. The officials from the lottery operator stated that the claim was still in the validation process, it is a tightly controlled process and they must be 100% sure that the prize money is paid out to the rightful owner. Until they ensure that it is the correct person, the winning prize money will remain officially unclaimed. There was no definite reason given why the claim has not been verified as yet.
Even though this unhappy Scot with billions at the fingertips has to wait for the validation process to be completed, there are other lottery players who only wait a few days for their money.
On the same day that the Scot claimed the winnings, a 38-year-old father from Rochdale, England, won an equally large amount of £58,366,488 (approx. R1,366,085,545.70). 16,28,32,37,45 and Lucky Stars 1 and 11 were his lucky EuroMillions drawn numbers. Luck was on his side when his claim was verified within 5 days.
More pay out refusals from UK’s National Lottery Operator
In 2019 the lottery operator refused to pay out an amount of £4 million (approx. R86 million) to two men who bought a £10 scratch card with an allegedly stolen bank card. Both of them had criminal records and no proof of bank accounts. They first claimed that they bought the ticket with loose change and later changed their story to a “friend” that bought the ticket for them, but they couldn’t confirm any information about the friend.
The lottery operator stated that they need to maintain their integrity and that is why security procedures form a crucial part of the validation process. If there is any doubt about the claim validity, they undertake a thorough investigation to ensure that the rightful ticketholder receives the winning prize money.
Another case happened in 2018 when a dad of four was denied a pay out of £200,000 (approx. R4,3 million) for a Pharaoh’s Fortune Card. The lottery operator refused to pay out the amount saying that the letter on the ticket has been altered. After investigating the ticket on the system, it has been confirmed that the letter has been altered and that it was indeed not a winning scratch card.
