National Lottery introduce major new rule for players that's a 'win-win'
National Lottery players are being informed about a new rule that will affect anyone who wins between £500 and £50,000.
People who win money between those amounts will be able to have their lottery winnings paid directly into their bank accounts instead of by cheque. Winners will need to go to claims.national-lottery.co.uk to fill in their claim form and upload an image of their winning ticket. After this, you'll get an email with a link to submit your bank account details.
Once you've submitted your details, your winnings will be paid within 24 hours, unless it is the weekend, in which case it may take two or three days to clear. It comes after the Post Office announced it will no longer pay National Lottery prizes between £500 and £50,000, reports the Mirror.
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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. This cost efficiency will see more money going to the Good Causes that The National Lottery supports and see prize money in players’ pockets in record time – so it really is a win-win."
It comes after a young apprentice, aged just 20, scooped a £7,533,329 National Lottery jackpot by picking the winning numbers for the first lottery draw of the new year on January 4. But instead of having a very early retirement, James Clarkson was back working on blocked drains the next day.
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James said: "I was out in the cold fixing blocked drains the day after I found out I had won. It was a bit grim but that's reality.
"I'm not going to stop working, I'm too young. I want to qualify as a heating engineer and then go from there. I need to have a purpose in life, plus dad wouldn't let me not work anyway.
"He says there are plenty of millionaires out there that still work and you need a reason to get up each day. I know people might think I'm mad to still work but I want to and, of course, there'll be some nice holidays in between."