Winning the Lotto and not claiming the jackpot.

freshpopcorn

Over the years they have being a good few occasions of people winning a large amount of cash either in regular draw or in those codes and not claiming the prize.
Why does this happen?
I know when I play the lotto I generally check it that night on the website and check the codes. I don't bin the ticket encase there was an error.
The shop which sold the winning ticket is generally announced fast and several appeals are made if the money isn't claimed.
Is it people can't check the ticket correctly or simply don't check it or do they loose them.

I did read a story in the UK and a woman claimed she put the winning ticket into the washing machine but in the end she was in error.

Why do you think people win the Lotto and not claim the prize?

Cee-Jay-Cee

People do quick picks and lose the ticket is probably the most likely reason.

Tourists buying the winning tickets, returning home and forgetting to check or losing their ticket is also a likely reason but until someone who had the ticket and didn’t claim comes forward and reveaksvthe reason then we will never actually know.

Ragnar Lothbrok

Maybe it's one of those really annoying people who maintain that winning the Lotto wouldn't change their life. So just to prove it, they don't even bother to claim the money.

Agricola

Could be a case of waiting it out for a while to let the media hunt die off. I know if I had a big euromillions win, I'd one to remain anonymous so the best way of doing that is to sit on the ticket for a while.

SEPT 23 1989

Buy ticket heading out a Saturday night,get drunk, loose trousers

freshpopcorn

Agricola wrote: »

Could be a case of waiting it out for a while to let the media hunt die off. I know if I had a big euromillions win, I'd one to remain anonymous so the best way of doing that is to sit on the ticket for a while.

I get this but they never claim the prize.

Guy:Incognito

Agricola wrote: »

Could be a case of waiting it out for a while to let the media hunt die off. I know if I had a big euromillions win, I'd one to remain anonymous so the best way of doing that is to sit on the ticket for a while.

If anything, that would build interest. People would be speculating. Then the closer it got to the deadline there'd be talk in the media and online as to why it wasn't collected.

hjr

On a slight tangent, but was watching America's Got Talent lately and noticed that the first prize, which is $1,000,000 is payable to the winner in equal installments over FORTY years!! That seems a ridiculous length of time to pay a prize out over....and then you see a group on it, of maybe 25 people and you think, if they win they'll get €1,000 a year for 40 years for winning!!

Hector Bellend

freshpopcorn wrote: »

I get this but they never claim the prize.

Grab the cheque, lodge it straight to your account and go straight to Dublin airport and head to vegas for a f*ck off session

Ragnar Lothbrok

Agricola wrote: »

Could be a case of waiting it out for a while to let the media hunt die off. I know if I had a big euromillions win, I'd one to remain anonymous so the best way of doing that is to sit on the ticket for a while.

No-one in their right minds would deliberately sit on a winning ticket worth millions.

beertons

I've lost countless tickets by mistake, when trousers were put in the washing machine and pockets not checked.

mikemac2

freshpopcorn wrote: »

I did read a story in the UK and a woman claimed she put the winning ticket into the washing machine but in the end she was in error.

She was a blatant scammer and the washing machine story was to cover up she deliberately tampered with the ticket.

The tabloids destroyed her and looked up all areas of her life like claiming social welfare, etc

Guy:Incognito

beertons wrote: »

I've lost countless tickets by mistake, when trousers were put in the washing machine and pockets not checked.

I was the same. Forever finding tickets at home months later. So I play it online now.

Badly Drunk Boy

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

I was the same. Forever finding tickets at home months later. So I play it online now.

Same here. If I didn't lose the ticket, I'd leave it in an unusual place at home and find it 6 months later.

I play online now (when I do), and it's much handier. The smaller win amounts are automatically added into your account, and for bigger ones, they send you a claim form. (I didn't know this until I won about €2000 earlier this year.)

Berserker

Colleague of mine had a neighbour who won €250K in the Irish lotto and he nearly missed the deadline to collect it. Not sure why it happened but he ended up dashing to lotto HQ on the last day. Man wasn't a millionaire from what I gathered, he lived in a working class part of North Dublin, so I would have thought that the money would be a welcome windfall for him.

Guy:Incognito

Badly Drunk Boy wrote: »

Same here. If I didn't lose the ticket, I'd leave it in an unusual place at home and find it 6 months later.

I play online now (when I do), and it's much handier. The smaller win amounts are automatically added into your account, and for bigger ones, they send you a claim form. (I didn't know this until I won about €2000 earlier this year.)

I didn't know that till right now

coolisin

hjr wrote: »

On a slight tangent, but was watching America's Got Talent lately and noticed that the first prize, which is $1,000,000 is payable to the winner in equal installments over FORTY years!! That seems a ridiculous length of time to pay a prize out over....and then you see a group on it, of maybe 25 people and you think, if they win they'll get €1,000 a year for 40 years for winning!!

Thats to do with Tax in America! Lotto/winnings are heavily taxed so you can tax installments tax free or Take the full amount but loose 50% or something along those lines

mirwillbeback

To be honest, I had enough money and I was just wasn't bothered walking the 5 mins to the shop to collect.

(posted on behalf of David Drumm)

sbsquarepants

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

I was the same. Forever finding tickets at home months later. So I play it online now.

I've done it the odd time, but the missus is a disaster for checking the damn things. Online is the way to go.

We haven't failed to collect a jackpot in years:D

Macy0161

Agricola wrote: »

Could be a case of waiting it out for a while to let the media hunt die off. I know if I had a big euromillions win, I'd one to remain anonymous so the best way of doing that is to sit on the ticket for a while.

That works for a while, but then if it gets near deadline for claiming, it ramps up again.

I'd go with lost tickets as the biggest factor. And I'm another one who now plays online to save myself from this (and the couple of times a year having to check a big pile of tickets). Only downside is the email notifications of "we have exciting news" only to log in for €3. Better in my pocket/ account than theirs, but not that exciting...

Berserker

mirwillbeback wrote: »

To be honest, I had enough money and I was just wasn't bothered walking the 5 mins to the shop to collect.

(posted on behalf of David Drumm)

What's the food like in prison David? What PS games are you playing these days?

xi5yvm0owc1s2b

freshpopcorn wrote: »

Why do you think people win the Lotto and not claim the prize?

I don't know that there's ever been a case of someone checking their Lotto ticket, seeing they've hit the jackpot, and thinking, "Nah, I won't bother claiming those millions."

In most cases, the person probably lost or discarded the ticket, or never bothered to check it.

It can be costly, though! Somebody in the UK lost out on a EuroMillions jackpot of £64 million in 2012 after missing the deadline to come forward.

digitaldr

I do it on line and have long since learned not to get excited by the "we've got exciting news about your lotto account" emails. Logged on tonight only to find I'd won a measly €3. It's annoying the way they force you to enter Wednesday and Saturday draws if you go for the advance play option.

Guy:Incognito

Badly Drunk Boy wrote: »

. The smaller win amounts are automatically added into your account, and for bigger ones, they send you a claim form. (I didn't know this until I won about €2000 earlier this year.)

Just on this again. Do you get the normal "we have exciting news.........." email with a claim form attached or is it a different format?

Spanish Eyes

The Canadian Teachers Pension fund will be humungous now. They bought it out didn't they? could be wrong.

If I am right, They kinda know what Irish people do when a jackpot is dangled in front of them.

No wonder An Post is closing everything in sight. Think they lost that gig.

It's a mugs game if done religiously every draw, but a bit of fun now and then is not a problem IMV.

Berserker

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

It's a mugs game if done religiously every draw, but a bit of fun now and then is not a problem IMV.

How is it a mugs games if you are entering every draw? It costs you €6 per week for the Irish one, something similar for the Euro draw. You'd spend more on lunch in the city centre.

Macy0161

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

It's a mugs game if done religiously every draw, but a bit of fun now and then is not a problem IMV.

Less than the cost of a coffee, never mind a pint, if you're buying either in Dublin City Centre!

xi5yvm0owc1s2b

Berserker wrote: »

How is it a mugs games if you are entering every draw? It costs you €6 per week for the Irish one, something similar for the Euro draw. You'd spend more on lunch in the city centre.

If you enter every draw, it's €12 a week (€6 for Wednesday and €6 for Saturday), which is €624 per year.

Mint Sauce

Holiday makers, buying ticket and forgeting about it, losing ticket, etc etc.

I rarely ever recall news updates here, for un claimed UK, Spainish, etc Lottery being announced here. Would the Irish Lotto pass the same news of unclaimed tickets to other countries news agencies?

Ragnar Lothbrok wrote: »

No-one in their right minds would deliberately sit on a winning ticket worth millions.

THey would if they had it in their back pocket.

Turnipman

Hector Bellend wrote: »

Grab the cheque, lodge it straight to your account and go straight to Dublin airport and head to vegas for a f*ck off session

Thanks for the tip, but I'd prefer to wait until I'm dead before heading straight to hell!

Grayson

coolisin wrote: »

Thats to do with Tax in America! Lotto/winnings are heavily taxed so you can tax installments tax free or Take the full amount but loose 50% or something along those lines

It also costs a lot less. When you consider inflation it costs less to give you money in 20 years than it does now.

valoren

hjr wrote: »

On a slight tangent, but was watching America's Got Talent lately and noticed that the first prize, which is $1,000,000 is payable to the winner in equal installments over FORTY years!! That seems a ridiculous length of time to pay a prize out over....and then you see a group on it, of maybe 25 people and you think, if they win they'll get €1,000 a year for 40 years for winning!!

The real money will be made from the publicity of winning a high profile competition. They'd be booked solid for a good few years.

It's akin to a golfer winning a big tournament. Sure they get over a million dollars for actually winning the thing but their endorsement money, their marketability and status increases with that win and can be leveraged financially long into the future.

A percentage would be people dying I suppose.

RiderOnTheStorm

There was a case in UK recently where a person had their ticket checked in shop only to be told it wasnt a winner and ticket was binned. Person asked for ticket back anyway, and checked numbers themselves later ..... It was a winner! A million quid iirc.

If they hadn't checked themselves this prize would have gone unclaimed. I wonder how many other unclaimed wins are because of computer saying no in shop?

xi5yvm0owc1s2b

Not claiming jackpots is one thing, but lotteries around the world also save billions because many people don't bother claiming the smaller prizes -- scratch cards, €4, €5, etc. They actually calculate that only a percentage of these smaller prizes will ever be claimed.