How much do you loathe deadlines? Well you can’t possibly hate them as much as the recent winner of a £1 million EuroMillions prize does.
Whoever the unfortunate soul is, they've just lost out on the chance to claim their prize as the deadline has come and gone.
The prize was part of the UK's EuroMillions Christmas promotions and included a Private Chalet Escape for the lucky winner. The winning numbers were drawn on the 22nd of December 2015, but one winner from Swansea never came forward to claim their prize. Even though the National Lottery urged players to check their tickets, the prize money will now go to various projects all over the UK.
There must be a good explanation for it, but we’ll probably never know. It’s not unusual for the odd prize to go unclaimed. Players often hear that a jackpot has been won and don’t bother to check their tickets. But with 13 prize tiers, there’s always a chance that you may have won a little something.
And the National Lottery wants you to claim it—even if you’ve only managed to match two numbers. The prize may only be worth a few pounds, but they’re counting on players to use that money towards their next lottery ticket. And while many of you focus solely on the jackpot, it’s worth remembering that EuroMillions offers great pay outs in the second and third tiers too.
The lesson of this tragic story is a simple one. If you’re going to play the lottery, whether it’s the EuroMillions, US Powerball, Mega Millions or any other lottery, you should always check your tickets after a draw. And don’t wait too long to claim your prize if you have won something! There's usually ample time after a draw to claim your prize, but all lotteries have a deadline. If you wait there’s a good chance the deadline will pass and you’ll be out of luck, just like the winner from Swansea.
Your ticket is your chance to change your life, so take good care of it. Don’t leave it in your pockets where it could end up in the laundry and be destroyed. You also shouldn’t leave it in your car or carelessly shove it in a draw and forget about it. Keep your tickets in a special place and make it a habit to keep them in the same place every time. That way, when you hear that a winner hasn’t come forward, you know exactly where to find your tickets so you can check them quickly.
If you’re a bit absentminded or haven’t got the time to keep up with the lottery draws, it might be better to buy your tickets online. This solves a range of problems without any effort on your part. For starters, you can set up a subscription and use your credit card to pay. That way you’ll never have to worry about making a regular stop at your local convenience store to buy your tickets.
A subscription also means you’ll never have to worry about missing a draw. If you’ve got your heart set on winning a jackpot, the experts recommend that you play your favourite lottery consistently. Online lottery ticket services make that super convenient for players. And you don’t have to worry about watching every draw or checking for the results online either.
Should you win, the online ticket service does it all for you. They’ll check your numbers and confirm your winnings via email. All you have to do is check your inbox regularly—which is probably something you already do every day. They’ll also take care of claiming the winnings on your behalf and depositing the money into your online account.
You don’t have to do a thing and the money is almost instantly available. Then you can get it sent to your bank account, or use it to buy more tickets. Nothing could be easier and it’s the ideal solution for those who want to play the lottery but couldn’t be bothered with the hassle.
But the best part about playing the lottery online is the access it gives you to the world’s best lotteries. You can play the big USA and European lotteries even if you aren’t a citizen of the country where the lottery originates. In fact, the kind of access has resulted in even more people from all over the world buying lottery tickets. As a result, more tickets are sold and the jackpots are getting even bigger.
You don’t have to be a lottery loser like the winner from Swansea who has missed out on a fantastic prize. Switch to buying your lottery tickets online and you’ll have to experience the panic of turning your house upside down in an attempt to find that lottery ticket. Play it smart and buy your EuroMillions tickets online instead!
