Huge change to National Lottery rules that will see winners get money quicker
A HUGE change to National Lottery rules could see winners get money quicker.
Players will now have prizes between £500 and £50,000 paid directly into their bank accounts instead of by cheque.
Any payments will be made within 24 hours of winners entering their bank account details online.
Jenny Blogg, operations director for Allwyn, which runs the National Lottery, said: “We’re delighted to introduce this completely new payment solution, which will see, for the first time, people who play The National Lottery in shops be able to have their prizes paid directly into their bank accounts.
“Not only will this see these prizes paid faster than ever before, but it also drastically cuts down on administration and postage costs.”
The announcement from Allwyn comes after the Post Office said it would no longer pay National Lottery retail prizes between £500 and £50,000, also known as “mid-tier” prizes.
Allwyn said the new payment method will see more money go to National Lottery-funded Good Causes as it will reduce administration and postage costs.
With the new payment system, winners need to go to claims.national-lottery.co.uk, enter their email address and fill in a claim form.
Players have to input their personal details and upload an image of their winning ticket.
Once this has been done, the player will receive an email with a unique, secure link for them to submit their bank account number and sort code.
The system will check the name of the account matches the claim form and if so, the payment will be issued within 24 hours.
Winners can also choose to have their money paid by cheque.
Bear in mind, if the claim form is filled on a weekend date, any payments made take two to three days to clear.
The National Lottery launched in 1994, and has so far awarded £95billion in prizes.