Mystery EuroMillions lottery winner has just one week left to claim £1m prize
The deadline for a lottery winner looms as a ticket holder has just one week left to claim £1m prize.
A mystery ticket holder has just one week left to claim a £1m lottery prize as the deadline looms. The winning ticket was bought in Liverpool in February for the St Valentine’s Day EuroMillions draw.
The deadline of 180 days to claim the prize runs out on Wednesday (August 13), said Allwyn, the operator of The National Lottery. The firm suggested that lottery players check their coat pockets for the ticket and ensure the prize is claimed.
Other unclaimed prizes include a £106,738.50 Euromillions prize which expires today. The ticket was bought in London Borough of Barnet for the draw on February 7. Another £1m Lotto prize is also waiting to be claimed from the draw which took place on May 24. The ticket was bought in Birmingham and expires on November 20.
But these prizes are dwarfed by a massive £3,613,887 EuroMillions prize for the June 13 draw - the ticket was purchased in the Council District of Fife and expires on December 10.
What happens to unclaimed lottery prizes
The National Lottery website explains what happens when prizes go unclaimed - as although most big prizes do get claimed immediately, a few don't.
A spokesperson for the National Lottery said: "Luckily, most players check their tickets, or get a message in their inbox, and claim their winnings in a flash. Every now and then, we have a prize which needs a helping hand to be claimed."
Every player has 180 days from the day of the draw to claim their prize. Details of unclaimed prizes are released around two weeks after the draw to give a reasonable amount of time after the draw for players to have had a chance to check their tickets.
It also allows time for a potential winner, who thinks they may have lost their ticket, to get in touch which needs to be put in writing before the 30th day after the draw.
Organisers carry out a variety of measures to "try and get people talking about the prize", to hopefully prompt the winner to check their ticket.
If no one comes forward in the 180 days then the prize money, plus all the interest it has generated while it is held in trust, goes to National Lottery-funded projects across the UK.