I won £10,000 on scratchcard but ‘new Lottery rule’ saw me left with NOTHING – I’m losing hope I’ll ever see the cash
A WOMAN who bagged £10,000 on a scratchcard has been left without a penny because of a new lottery rule.
Jennifer Gothard struck gold when she turned a £3 play into thousands and finally believed her life was about to change.
Calling National Lottery to claim her winnings, penniless Jennifer was told she would “have to wait” because of a backlog checking tickets.
Now two months on, the desperate Lancashire woman is still without her £10k since Allwyn replaced Camelot as the operator.
The move happened on February 1 and means prizes between £500 and £50,000 can no longer be collected from Post Offices.
Jennifer said: “I got off the phone with them the other day and was basically told I’ll just have to wait.
“They can’t even tell me whether I’ve really won or not. They apparently have a big backlog of claims to get through and they still haven’t got around to checking mine.
“To be honest, I’ve gone from being over moon and on cloud nine to feeling completely deflated.”
Allwyn sources said that the changeover had led to early “teething problems”.
Jennifer was hoping the win could “jump start” her life again after her marriage collapsed.
She added: “It means I can finally start working to live, rather than living to work, for the first time in what feels like forever.
“I will finally be debt free, and maybe get ahead on a couple of payments.
“But most of all I can finally get divorced, do some decorating and enjoy a much-needed holiday for me and my mum.”
An Allwyn spokesperson said: “We’re very sorry to hear of Ms Gothard’s concerns and will be in touch with her with an update.
“This is a new claims process we’ve had to introduce following the Post Office’s decision to no longer pay National Lottery retail prizes between £500.01 and £50,000 (what we call ‘mid-tier prizes’).
“As a result of it being new, we’ve been experiencing higher volumes of players contacting us and some initial delays to players receiving their prizes.
“We’ve since increased the number of colleagues to assist with claims – which is helping us send out prizes more quickly – and are continuing to work to make improvements to the process.
“For example, we recently started a trial where anyone winning under £1,000 no longer needs to send in their winning ticket to us to help speed up the process.
“We’d like to reassure anyone affected that they will receive their prize.”
UK's biggest lottery winners
By Ethan Singh
- Anonymous winner – £195,707,000
A UK ticket-holder scooped the record EuroMillions jackpot of £195 million on July 19 2022 – the biggest National Lottery win of all time.
The holder, who remains anonymous to this day, amassed the fortune with just one lucky ticket.
- Joe and Jess Thwaite – £184,262,899.10
Britain’s previous EuroMillions record holders were Joe and Jess Thwaite.
The couple won a record-breaking £184million jackpot in May 2022 and shared hopes of a Hawaiian holiday and a new horse box for their children’s ponies.
Joe bought his winning ticket online on May 10, 2022, and the following morning received an email with good news.
As he learnt of the huge win, he was in disbelief and initially kept it for himself as he did not want to disturb his wife, who was sleeping.
Joe, a communications sales engineer, and Jess, who runs a hairdressing salon with her sister, have been married for 11 years and have two children.
- Colin and Chris Weir, £161,653,000
Colin and Christine Weir landed the colossal prize money in 2011 and were Europe’s second-biggest winners until someone in Italy won a jackpot worth £193m in 2019.
They splashed the cash at an astounding rate of £100,000 a week before tragedy struck.
But at the time of Colin’s death in December 2019 his share of the prize money had dwindled by around £40m.
He spent the millions living a life of luxury, forking out for sports cars, property and the football club he supported.
Colin and Christine divorced shortly before his death after being married for 38 years.
He left money for their children Carly and Jamie.
- Adrian and Gillian Brayford – £148,600,000
Adrian and Gillian won 190 million euros in a EuroMillions draw in August 2012, which came to just over £148 million.
But Adrian split from Gillian the following year because of the stress of the win.
The couple bought a Grade II listed estate in Cambridgeshire, complete with cinema and billiards room, but it was sold in 2021.
After divorcing in 2013, he failed to woo ex-sausage factory worker Marta Jarosz — but fell for stable girl Sam Burbidge.
She left him in 2017, taking 30 prize horses Adrian bought.
It might have worked out in the end for Adrian though as the former postman was seen smiling with ambulance worker Tracey Biles last year.
- Frances and Patrick Connolly – £114,969,775
Former social worker and teacher Frances set up two charitable foundations after she and her husband hit the jackpot.
They scooped almost £115 million on New Year’s Day 2019.
She estimates that she has already given away £60 million to charitable causes, as well as friends and family.
- Richard and Debbie Nuttall – £61,000,000
The couple from Colne, Lancashire, took home £61 million on January 30 2024.
Both 54, they were enjoying a holiday in Fuerteventura, celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary.
But they then discovered the big EuroMillions win.
Richard revealed they originally thought they had won £2.60, but then received another email telling the pair to check their account.
Other eye-watering anonymous winners:
- 2019 – £123million
Another anonymous winner scooped up a prize of £123,458,008 in the June Superdraw rollover.
- 2021 – £122million
Following nine rollovers, one ticketholder bagged the £122,550,350 jackpot last April.
The successful participant chose to remain anonymous.
- 2018 – £121million
Another anonymous winner found their fortune during the Superdraw jackpot rollover in April 2018, securing £121,328,187.