It’s a thrilling moment that many of us have dreamt of - winning the lottery. But what is it actually like to be a lottery winner? From the process of claiming your prize to telling your friends and family the good news, it can be fascinating to look at what happens when you win the lottery. You never know, it could be you one day
How do you claim your winnings?
Once you’ve checked and double-checked your numbers and jumped up and down with excitement, it’s time to start the process of claiming your prize. But how exactly can you claim your winnings?
Generally, all lotteries and raffles have different rules and procedures, which means that getting your hands on your winnings could differ depending on which lottery you’ve played.
If you have a physical lottery ticket, it all starts with a phone call to the number on the back, where you’ll give all the relevant details to a helpful person and make an appointment to see a Winner’s Advisor if you would like one. Hopefully, your ticket will be validated and arrangements will be made to send you your winnings.
For lotteries that are played online, such as Age UK’s weekly charity lottery, you may not have to do anything at all. You might be automatically alerted that you’re a winner, or you could use an online checker to find out. If you’ve won a larger prize, the lottery office may phone you directly to tell you the good news. Usually, your prize can be sent via a cheque in the post, or in some instances, they can be claimed online, and payment will go directly into the account you used to pay for your initial entry.
Can lottery winners remain anonymous?
You’ve probably seen many stories in local and national press about big lottery winners, but what about people who’d prefer to remain anonymous? You may not like being in the public eye, or worry about your privacy being invaded once the news is out that you’ve won some money. So whether you win up to £25,000 in the Age UK Weekly Lottery Superdraw, or win bigger on a national lottery, can you stay anonymous? The answer is yes: you always have a choice about whether or not to go public with your win, like on a website or Facebook page, for instance. It doesn’t matter whether you win a large amount with the National Lottery or a smaller amount through a charity lottery - the decision is yours.
Why do lottery winners go public?
There are lots of things to consider when deciding whether to go public. Some people prefer to keep the news a secret, whereas others leap at the chance to go public with their exciting news. It could be thrilling to have your name published on the lottery’s website, to have a Facebook post written about your win or to be featured in their newsletter. Age UK loves sharing the good news about their winners, which is often why winners are asked to provide a few words, so the news can be shared on the website and across social media channels.
What do lottery winners do?
Once your winning cheque has arrived in the post, you might be wondering what to do next. Upon the initial news, you may have cracked open a bottle of your favourite tipple and shared the exciting news with your friends and family. Maybe you even discussed then what you would do with your winnings.
But you may have some big decisions to make. Whether you’ve won £10,000 or £10 million, you should decide what to do with it. How you spend your winnings if you become a lucky lottery winner is entirely up to you.
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