With Lotto’s Powerball jackpot hitting $12 million in tonight’s draw, what happens if you win and forget to check your ticket?
Every year 1% of prizes – or about $10 million – goes unclaimed. And Lotto says it first gives the winner time to come forward – usually around two weeks.
This is to allow them time to experience their “winning ticket” moment.
However, if after two weeks no winner comes forward Lotto begins to track them down, says Will Hine, Lotto’s head of corporate communication.
When tracking down a winner, a Lotto spokesperson says they “are very careful in the way we go about finding someone, as keeping anonymity for our winners is key”.
For winning tickets bought in-store, Lotto can access specific details such as the exact date, time and payment method used when purchasing the ticket.
“This information helps us investigate, and we can also use CCTV footage in accordance with our Privacy Policy,” the spokesperson said.
Hine recalled a winner from Christchurch who was completely unaware he had a ticket worth $22 million until the CEO at the time flew to Christchurch and knocked on his door.
“He said to this person that potentially he should check his Lotto ticket because there was some money waiting for him.”
Specific ticket information
If a ticket has been lost, assuming no one else has found it and claimed its prize, Lotto may still be able to pay out the prize to the rightful owner if they provide specific information.
Under the 2003 Gambling Act, winners have up to 12 months from the draw date to claim their prize.
If the prize goes unclaimed after that time, it gets transferred to the funds for future prizes, ensuring all the money is returned to future players. Lotto can’t take it for profit.
Online ticket winners who earn more than $1000 receive an email asking them to log in to MyLotto to check the value of their prize and fill out a claim form.
Lotto can see when a player last logged into their account and has all their details, and if it needs to reach out and advise the winner to check their ticket.
After around three months of the prize going unclaimed, Lotto turns to the media for help. This worked for one couple from Pāpāmoa who unknowingly had a winning ticket worth $500,000 in their drawer for nearly four months.
“Within 10 minutes of reading the news article, they realised they were in a pretty good position,” Hine said.
Not all prize winners are tracked down, with significant prizes prioritised – First Division winners in particular.
In the last five years, two First Division Lotto wins went unclaimed, with the total for each being $500,000.
However, Hine said of the $10 million of prizes left unclaimed, the “majority of these are very, very small prizes”.
“The reason we can’t go out seeking all of our winners is that we are a state-owned organisation and all our profits go back to the lottery grants,” he explained.
“We need to be quite strategic and purposeful about where we spend resources and money trying to find those winners, but we do think it’s worth it putting that extra effort into finding those people who have won life-changing amounts.”
So the bottom line is – check your tickets and keep them safe. And get in there before the 12 months runs out if you’re a winner.
The Lotto draw is live on TVNZ1 and TVNZ+ at 8pm tonight.
