How do I claim a lottery win



For those people who are lucky enough to win the lottery, there are numerous ways winnings can be claimed. How they can be claimed depends on the amount which has been won and also how the ticket was purchased. In the UK, lottery tickets can only be bought by people 16 or over, if a winner emerges who is younger than 16, they will not get the winnings.
For winners who purchased their ticket in a store then they can also claim money from National Lottery retailers. If the winning amount is up to 100, the prize can be claimed from any lottery retailer once the winning ticket has been presented and checked. The retailer will validate the ticket and the winner is allow to check the validation slip if they wish to. The validation slip will show how much is to be paid out to the winner.
Prizes between 100 and 500 can also be claimed in National Lottery retailers, although this is at the discretion of the retailer. If the ticket has not been validated then the winner can go to any other lottery retailer or to a National Lottery Post Office. Although, if the ticket has been validated then the winner must return to the store where the ticket was purchased.
For prizes up to 50,000 the steps to claim the prize mean visiting a designated National Lottery Post Office. The ticket must be present, this will be checked and the amount payable established. The winner will be required to complete a prize claim form. The maximum pay out in cash is 500, and therefore anything above this will be issued by cheque.
An amount over 50,000 which has been won must either be claimed in person within the winners home, at another agreed location or at a Regional National Lottery Centre. Winners will be required to prove their identity and will also be required to complete a prize claim form. Prizes will be issued either by cheque or direct credit. Prizes will only be transferred once the identity of an individual has been established and confirmed.
Prizes up to 50,000 can also be claimed by post, this will mean sending the winning ticket and also completing a prize claim from if the prize is over 500. The address which prizes can be claimed from is, The National Lottery ,Accounts Department, PO Box 287, Watford, WD18 9TT. It must be stated that the National Lottery does not accept any responsibility for tickets which are lost in the post.
Many people now buy their tickets online, in this case winning amounts will be directly added to the persons online National Lottery account. For amounts over 50,000 the identity of the winner will need to be proved and a prize form completed.