Imagine becoming a millionaire but you didn’t know until it was too late! Unfortunately, this happens to people all around the world with unclaimed lottery prizes. Sometimes these prizes are small, but sometimes they are worth lifechanging amounts.
The UK’s biggest unclaimed lottery prize
Every year, there are many unclaimed lottery prizes in the UK. So many that the National Lottery provides a webpage listing them all for you to check. Yet they only give you 180 days to claim these prizes, meaning there have been some big ones missed!
In 2012, EuroMillions reached an eye-watering £65 million and the winner never claimed their prize! According to UK lottery officials, the winning ticket was purchased in the Stevenage and Hitchin region in Hetfordshire.
The National Lottery ran a publicity campaign to try and find the winner with no luck. After the 180 days passed, the £65 million was added to the National Lottery Good Causes fund, a fund used to give back to the community.
The biggest unclaimed prizes in the US
Unclaimed lottery prizes are not a problem isolated to the UK. In February 2016, the deadline to claim a massive $63 million ticket passed its 180-day deadline. Like the EuroMillions story from 2012, the lottery ran several media articles to try and find the winner with no luck.
The story doesn’t end there though, a man named Brandy Milliner came forward and tried to sue California Lottery. Brandy claimed he attempted to cash in the winning ticket, but was told the ticket was too damaged.
Brandy, an LA county resident claims that he purchased the winning ticket on August 8, 2015. He claims he then went to make a prize claim and submitted the ticket even getting a congratulatory note. He claims that he was later contacted by lottery officials stating a payout would be impossible due to the state the ticket was in. Lottery officials claim they never even received Mr. Milliner’s initial ticket claim.