€17M LOSTTO

Lottery players miss out as prizes are left unclaimed

OVER €17million in unclaimed prizes from Lotto draws and scratchcard games was retained by the National Lottery last year.

But the National Lottery has refused to say how much was returned to players in the form of special draws or additional prizes in 2020.

Such information was provided in the past but the regulator was unable to provide the figure when requested via the Freedom of Information Act.

It revealed, with the consent of draw operator Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI), that the total value of unclaimed prizes in 2020 was €17,026,536. The previous year, PLI returned less than one per cent of €19million in unclaimed prize funds to players – €184,700.

When asked about the amount and treatment of unclaimed prizes in 2020, the PLI declined to comment. Since PLI took over the licence in 2014, the amount raised for good causes has increased from €193.3million in 2015 to €254million last year.

And over €117million in unclaimed prizes has been available to PLI which, under the licence, it can retain after 90 days and use to market lottery products.

However, Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy said: “I think people would prefer to see the money being returned back to their communities.”

The Kildare North TD added it “looks like a very good deal for the operator”.

Carol Boate of the Lottery Regulator said the value of unclaimed prizes was 2-3% of total sales in recent years.

The biggest unclaimed prize was a jackpot of €4.3million in June 2001.