I won lottery after finding free £2.50 on app but still haven’t been paid… bank card rule means I’ll NEVER get it
You can only change bank details if your balance is zero
A LOTTO player hit the jackpot but hasn’t been paid the winnings because of a bank card rule.
The unnamed woman from Newcastle logged onto her National Lottery app after not using it for a while and found £2.50 in her account.
After spotting the surprise cash and being filled with “excitement”, she did what anyone else would do – picked some numbers and bought a new ticket.
In what can only be described as a lucky day for the Brit, she scooped a nice £106 with the latest play.
But when she tried to withdraw the winnings, she hit a major hurdle because the bank card attached was no longer in use.
She told : “When I tried to withdraw the money, I couldn’t, as my bank card attached to the account was no longer in use, and you can only change your card if your balance is zero.
“So I am now in the bizarre situation where the only way to achieve a zero balance is to buy lottery tickets, but if I win … well, you can imagine.”
The player claims she emailed about the issue around three weeks ago but is yet to hear back.
It comes after Camelot was replaced by Allwyn to take charge of the Lotto and made major changes.
New operator Allwyn changed the procedure for wins between £500 and £50,000 after the Post Office pulled out a 900-branch deal last month.
Post Office branches were the only shops where cheques for those sums could be given to winning punters — but they have now been blocked.
Instead, the operator, which took over from Camelot at the start of February, insists winners verify their numbers online or over the phone before sending the ticket by post for inspection.
Allwyn is telling winners it wants tickets sent in for checks by its security operations team.
Following the change-up decided by the Gambling Commission, many players found they were missing out.
Andrew Leese, from Staffordshire, has even vowed never to play the National Lottery again.
Despite winning £1,500 in March, things turned sour after he waited three weeks for his winnings to arrive because of a new rule.
It meant he had to send in pictures of his ticket and fill out a form.
And he wasn’t the only one buggered by a change to play.
Jennifer Gothard bagged £10,000 on a scratchcard but hasn’t seen a penny of it.
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.