Winner loses $20 million in cautionary tale for person behind Australia’s historic $100m Powerball mystery

Imagine winning $20 million and never receiving the cash. Well that’s the brutal reality for one unfortunate lottery player in the UK after they failed to claim their prize in the allotted time.

A £10,633,323 (A20,300,000) jackpot will now be donated to charity after the mystery winner, who purchased their ticket in London, never came forward to claim the prize during the 180-day deadline.

“Despite an extensive search for the mystery Bexley millionaire, I can confirm that the ticket-holder did not come forward to claim their Lotto prize and has now unfortunately missed out on this life-changing sum of money,” Andy Carter, from the UK’s National Lottery operator Allwyn, said.

It’s a much shorter window for winning ticket holders to come forward than in Australia, but the winner’s nightmare-inducing predicament is a cautionary tale for lottery players around the world.

And it comes at a time when Australian lottery officials are still searching for the winner of the country’s largest-ever unclaimed prize.

We’re nearing a year since a mystery person walked into a newsagent in Sydney’s Bondi Junction and purchased a Powerball ticket. It would go on to win $100 million.

That person has never come forward, despite The Lott’s extensive efforts to locate the individual.

After a woman came forward to claim her $100,000 prize after more than a year in October, The Lott spokesperson Eliza Wregg told Yahoo News Australia players of any of their lottery games, particularly the Powerball, should have a good look around their homes.

“We’ve seen other big winners find forgotten lottery tickets in all sorts of places – from the fridge door to the car console – so it’s worth searching all nooks and crannies for any unchecked tickets,” she said.

Aussie winner loses $670k after seven-year window closes

There has been a significant lottery loss in Australia in the past 12 months. In August a person who purchased a Gold Lotto ticket on the Gold Coast in 2018 lost their opportunity to claim their $670,000 prize after the seven-year window elapsed.

The Lott confirmed to Yahoo at the time unclaimed prize money will be “returned to the community in some shape or form”. While that prize will have been transferred to the Queensland government, the lottery operator can apply for permission to use unclaimed prize funds for promotional draws or other lottery-related activities.

In the case of the $100 million Powerball ticket, those in NSW have six years to come forward. If unclaimed, The Lott says it will be used “to grow the games for the benefit of players and the community”.

“This includes bonus draws and promotions, paying additional prizes, and making donations to local charities,” it said.

To avoid such a horror scenario as a lottery player, The Lott has one simple piece of advice. Register your tickets.

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