You could be owed money! Unclaimed lottery prizes worth $16 million are waiting for lucky Aussies
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We all dream of winning the lottery, but most of us don't expect to actually become a winner. But if you’ve purchased a ticket recently, you could be in luck – and not know it yet.
Right now, there are millions worth of unclaimed lottery prizes across Australia, so get ready to check your old lotto tickets, as unclaimed prize money worth almost $16 million is up for grabs!
Australians are missing out on millions of dollars, with almost two dozen people having unclaimed lottery tickets hidden somewhere in their house.
According to The Lott, there are currently 21 unclaimed division one and major lottery prizes across Australia, with ten of the most forgetful lotto winners living in New South Wales, eight in Queensland, two in the Australian Capital Territory and one in Victoria.
The biggest unclaimed amount is a ‘Set for Life’ prize worth $4.8 million, won back in April 2021 from a ticket sold at the Governor Macquarie Drive Newsagency in Chipping North.
There are six other winners who could cash in with at least a million dollars in prizes.
One of the most recent unclaimed prizes was a TattsLotto prize of more than $775,000, won from a ticket sold earlier this month at Mernda Lucky Charm in Victoria.
The Lott has urged people to check their tickets and see if they have any forgotten or misplaced tickets that could have a prize on them.
According to The Lott, people have found their winning tickets in all sorts of places – including old shopping bags, wallets, car consoles, and the fridge door.
One winner was cleaning out his car and found an old lottery ticket in a reusable shopping bag. After checking it, he realised he had won $1 million a year earlier.
The Lott also shared that the winning tickets are all unregistered, meaning they aren’t connected to a player card or online account. If you have an old Lotto ticket, you can enter your ticket number on The Lott website to see if you’ve won.
So, when can you claim your prize?
Depending on where you live, there may be only a limited time you can come forward to claim any lotto winnings.
In NSW, Queensland, and the ACT, the time limit is six years. In Victoria, winners only have 12 months to claim their winnings directly from The Lott. Afterwards, the money goes straight to the Victorian State Revenue Office, and winners would have to go through a process to claim it from the government.
In some instances, if the prize money is not claimed within the claiming period, the money will go to the community as a donation or back to the players in bonus draws, depending on the jurisdiction.
If you believe that you’ve lost your ticket, there are some steps you could take to get a replacement.
If your tickets are registered to a player card, you may call The Lott on 131 868, and they will send you a free ticket certificate or cheque in the mail.
However, if you have an unregistered ticket, you’ll need to fill out a form and provide a variety of details about the ticket, including the type, where it was bought, the time of purchase, and how it was paid for.
You’ll also be asked to pay a search fee of $15 (or $22 in South Australia) to find the ticket in the system.
This isn’t the first time lotto winners have forgotten to claim their million-dollar prizes. Two people forgot to claim their prizes – each worth $3.33 million – after winning the lottery a few days into the new year. Twelve people won the grand prize in total. You can read more details about that story here.
Have you ever won a major prize before? Tell us all about it in the comments!
Right now, there are millions worth of unclaimed lottery prizes across Australia, so get ready to check your old lotto tickets, as unclaimed prize money worth almost $16 million is up for grabs!
Australians are missing out on millions of dollars, with almost two dozen people having unclaimed lottery tickets hidden somewhere in their house.
According to The Lott, there are currently 21 unclaimed division one and major lottery prizes across Australia, with ten of the most forgetful lotto winners living in New South Wales, eight in Queensland, two in the Australian Capital Territory and one in Victoria.
The biggest unclaimed amount is a ‘Set for Life’ prize worth $4.8 million, won back in April 2021 from a ticket sold at the Governor Macquarie Drive Newsagency in Chipping North.
According to The Lott, there are 21 unclaimed lottery prizes across Australia. Credit: David Peterson/Pexels
There are six other winners who could cash in with at least a million dollars in prizes.
One of the most recent unclaimed prizes was a TattsLotto prize of more than $775,000, won from a ticket sold earlier this month at Mernda Lucky Charm in Victoria.
The Lott has urged people to check their tickets and see if they have any forgotten or misplaced tickets that could have a prize on them.
According to The Lott, people have found their winning tickets in all sorts of places – including old shopping bags, wallets, car consoles, and the fridge door.
One winner was cleaning out his car and found an old lottery ticket in a reusable shopping bag. After checking it, he realised he had won $1 million a year earlier.
The Lott also shared that the winning tickets are all unregistered, meaning they aren’t connected to a player card or online account. If you have an old Lotto ticket, you can enter your ticket number on The Lott website to see if you’ve won.
Here’s the list of unclaimed prizes. Credit: The Lott
So, when can you claim your prize?
Depending on where you live, there may be only a limited time you can come forward to claim any lotto winnings.
In NSW, Queensland, and the ACT, the time limit is six years. In Victoria, winners only have 12 months to claim their winnings directly from The Lott. Afterwards, the money goes straight to the Victorian State Revenue Office, and winners would have to go through a process to claim it from the government.
In some instances, if the prize money is not claimed within the claiming period, the money will go to the community as a donation or back to the players in bonus draws, depending on the jurisdiction.
If you believe that you’ve lost your ticket, there are some steps you could take to get a replacement.
If your tickets are registered to a player card, you may call The Lott on 131 868, and they will send you a free ticket certificate or cheque in the mail.
However, if you have an unregistered ticket, you’ll need to fill out a form and provide a variety of details about the ticket, including the type, where it was bought, the time of purchase, and how it was paid for.
You’ll also be asked to pay a search fee of $15 (or $22 in South Australia) to find the ticket in the system.
This isn’t the first time lotto winners have forgotten to claim their million-dollar prizes. Two people forgot to claim their prizes – each worth $3.33 million – after winning the lottery a few days into the new year. Twelve people won the grand prize in total. You can read more details about that story here.
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