That figure made me do a double take.
Since the lottery started in the UK back in 1994, the number of prizes unclaimed has now reached a phenomenal £1.1 Billion – yes over a billion.
And shockingly the largest of these was a jackpot win of £9.4 Million, for a ticket bought in Doncaster in 2005. The winner just never came forward.
Winners have 180 days to claim their prizes, before the funds are donated to charitable causes.
The operators of the UK Lottery, Camelot, say they do try to track down missing winners:
We try lots of things to keep the ticket in the public eye whenever there is an unclaimed win. Recently we took out a job advert for a millionaire inside a local newspaper in Brighton.
In 2010 alone there were £83 million of prizes that went unclaimed. And right now there are 17 prizes worth more than £100,000 just waiting for the ticket holders to come forward!
So if you still have any UK Lotto or EuroMillions tickets that are less than 6 months old, make sure you check them closely. You could be in danger of a missing out on a prize you’ve already won!
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One winner from Bolton has now come forward and claimed their outstanding £79,855 win. so come on folks – don’t let those winning tickets expire!