Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

What happens when I inevitably win big on the lottery tonight

98 replies

user1473878824 · 15/04/2023 21:01

I do the lottery online or on the national Lottery app, and usually when I win small amounts they’ve clearly accidentally left six zeros off I get an email saying there’s new about my ticket and the money is in my account.

But when happens when someone win the jackpot? Is it the same process? Is there just £4,000,000 sitting in their lottery account waiting for then to transfer it to their bank account or do you get a bells and whistles email? Do they call you? Does someone hunt you down and turn up at your house with a big novelty cheque that’s a nightmare to take to the bank?

Obviously it’s my turn tonight to win absolutely all of it but I’m sure it’s yours next. If you reply with the odds of winning the lottery I will not be sharing my spoils with you, just to be clear.

OP posts:
zampheta · 15/04/2023 21:02

I'd imagine they come to your house and you receive a cheque, but I don't know.

Mrsjayy · 15/04/2023 21:05

Someone Dh knows won big (not millions sadly) camelot go to the house and then it's transferred.

Original poster
user1473878824 · 15/04/2023 21:05

I just wonder if it’s the same process if you win £2.50 or £2,500,000. I’m always very appreciative of anyone turning up at my house with a cheque though, worrying that most of Mumsnet never answer the door!

OP posts:
Mrsjayy · 15/04/2023 21:07

HA yes the MN winner would miss out 😄 as far as I'm aware they do email though.

BouncingWorms · 15/04/2023 21:08

Firstly you don't cash big novelty cheques, you also need a regular real one.
And if it's over a certain amount I believe that they (sensibly) try and make you speak to a financial advisor first.
And no, I don't know this first hand (or really at all).

FutureDays · 15/04/2023 21:08

Someone I used to work with won a few million and she called Camelot and they transferred the money but it wasn’t instant, they allowed it to be made public and did the pic with a big cheque

Original poster
user1473878824 · 15/04/2023 21:11

BouncingWorms · 15/04/2023 21:08

Firstly you don't cash big novelty cheques, you also need a regular real one.
And if it's over a certain amount I believe that they (sensibly) try and make you speak to a financial advisor first.
And no, I don't know this first hand (or really at all).

I wasn’t really serious about cashing the novelty cheque…

@FutureDays I think if you don’t want your name published you get a bit less of your cash, which makes sense as it’s great PR but I think I’d rather pretend a distant relative I’d never met left me everything.

OP posts:
TomeTome · 15/04/2023 21:11

I don’t know but it will help me fantasise if someone gives some cold hard facts.

Original poster
user1473878824 · 15/04/2023 21:12

TomeTome · 15/04/2023 21:11

I don’t know but it will help me fantasise if someone gives some cold hard facts.

Right? I’ve already got the house planned out, I will be paying over the odds for the new owners of our old rental to move out and then have some very tasteful work to do on it. But it would be good to have the admin side sorted in my head first so I can practise my gracious winner face.

OP posts:
TempNCforthis · 15/04/2023 21:15

Of course you don't get less if you don't want publicity!

I'd heard that £50,000 was the point where you have to meet them, but I think I got that from here, so who knows.

I wonder what would happen if the email went into junk mail and the winner hadn't checked their account. I don't think a very large sum would be automatically paid into an ordinary bank account.

BertieBotts · 15/04/2023 21:16

Before they did it online, I used to work at WHSmith and we had a lottery machine. We were allowed to pay out small amounts in cash from the store, I think up to something like £500? So if someone came in with a winning ticket and we validated it on the machine it would be paid out in cash (that the manager would presumably have to bring from the safe, we wouldn't have that much in a till!). Nobody ever did claim a large amount though, I think someone claimed about £80 or £100 a few times.

If they won over the amount then they had to phone up the hotline. Can you imagine that today Grin all the millennials trying to decide whether they'd won enough to <shudder> make a phone call?

(I say this as a phone phobic millennial myself before anyone jumps on me)

Original poster
user1473878824 · 15/04/2023 21:20

@TempNCforthis oh my god! DP is clearly trying to scam me out of a portion of his potential winnings! Bastard.

@BertieBotts I think possibly the job I would hate the most in the world would be having to phone people to tell them through gritted teeth that they’re millionaires now.

OP posts:
NoodletheSchnoodle · 15/04/2023 22:05

I only ever play the lottery via the app and never buy tickets, so I too wonder if someone would big numbers via the app are you just notified via email/message in your lottery app 'you've won £5,000,000 on euromillions' or whatever the same way you get a 'you've won £2.50'

What are you planning to do with your winnings OP?

I spend a daft amount of time planning what I will do when I inevitably win the lottery one day Blush

PrincessHoneysuckle · 15/04/2023 22:08

Dunno but this morning two of my three tickets had one something and I was informed by email.I thought oh itll be a lucky dip and £1 million minimum...it was £8.55 total Grin

PrincessHoneysuckle · 15/04/2023 22:08

won

OhThatChicken · 15/04/2023 22:24

This is a timely thread - DH and I were debating this today cause I woke up to a ‘News about your ticket’ email this morning and logged in to find I’d won the princely sum of £2.50. Was grumbling that there should be varying levels of email subject line to avoid those ‘the dramatic way I would quit my job’ flights of fancy that turn to disappointed dust when you realise your winnings won’t even buy you a coffee.

Something like:
News about your ticket £1-£50
Mildly interesting news about your ticket £51-£500
Exciting news about your ticket £501-£10,000
Bloody brilliant news about your ticket £10,001-£500,000
You’re not going to believe the news about your ticket - £501,001+

DH also thinks emails are sent out in prize value order so the earlier you get one the more likely you’ve won a bigger prize (bit mean when you know you can’t log in until the morning anyway). Can anyone confirm?

Original poster
user1473878824 · 15/04/2023 22:27

@PrincessHoneysuckle I won £100 a few months ago and while it was so incredibly helpful and welcome I was a bit worried I’d used up my lottery luck!

@NoodletheSchnoodle Going to buy our old rental which was absolutely home but we couldn’t afford when the landlord sold, extend the kitchen a bit and new fittings and the loft. New tiles in the bathroom because they were weirdly brown. A goth downstairs loo with Charles Addams prints, originals, obviously. While the house is being done it’ll be a bit dusty so naturally I will have to spend the time reading in a villa in Ithica so I don’t get too stressed. Pay off close friend’s mortgages. And my god, as much Botox as my face can take. As I am a multimillionaire buying the perfect jeans will no longer be an issue, they will just automatically be great, also the moment I am rich I will drop two stone which will help. I will give up work but do lots of benevolent things and just be terribly interesting.

OP posts:
TotheletterofthelawTHELETTER · 15/04/2023 22:30

I remember reading an article about a big winner a few years ago. The money is transferred to your bank but if it’s over a certain amount you have to meet with a lottery approved financial advisor and they usually recommend you open a new account with Coutts or similar as they’re used to handling large amounts. This can take a few weeks to sort so they usually give you an allowance, I’m sure the article said the winner got £10k from Camelot the day after they won.

Original poster
user1473878824 · 15/04/2023 22:30

OhThatChicken · 15/04/2023 22:24

This is a timely thread - DH and I were debating this today cause I woke up to a ‘News about your ticket’ email this morning and logged in to find I’d won the princely sum of £2.50. Was grumbling that there should be varying levels of email subject line to avoid those ‘the dramatic way I would quit my job’ flights of fancy that turn to disappointed dust when you realise your winnings won’t even buy you a coffee.

Something like:
News about your ticket £1-£50
Mildly interesting news about your ticket £51-£500
Exciting news about your ticket £501-£10,000
Bloody brilliant news about your ticket £10,001-£500,000
You’re not going to believe the news about your ticket - £501,001+

DH also thinks emails are sent out in prize value order so the earlier you get one the more likely you’ve won a bigger prize (bit mean when you know you can’t log in until the morning anyway). Can anyone confirm?

Nooo don’t ruin it, they have to dole out all the little bits to everyone else before they get to you to work out exactly how disgustingly rich you are now!!! Please.

I only realised you couldn’t log in until the morning when I woke up at 3am one week with a news about your ticket email and repeatedly tried it and couldn’t, but obviously it being 3am my brain went straight to “you can’t log in because the news is too amazing”.

OP posts:
Original poster
user1473878824 · 15/04/2023 22:32

That should have been “close friends’ mortgages”, I don’t just have one friend with multiple ones. Though from reading this thread back one friend seems more believable.

OP posts:
Original poster
user1473878824 · 15/04/2023 22:33

TotheletterofthelawTHELETTER · 15/04/2023 22:30

I remember reading an article about a big winner a few years ago. The money is transferred to your bank but if it’s over a certain amount you have to meet with a lottery approved financial advisor and they usually recommend you open a new account with Coutts or similar as they’re used to handling large amounts. This can take a few weeks to sort so they usually give you an allowance, I’m sure the article said the winner got £10k from Camelot the day after they won.

I will be very generous to everyone on this thread with my allowance, promise.

OP posts:
IfYouLikePinaCoIadas · 15/04/2023 22:38

4mil wouldn't quite buy the house I have my eye on, but maybe I can barter them down.

Still, it would do.

1Week · 15/04/2023 22:43

I don't think I'd believe an email called "Great news about your ticket" I'd think Scam haha no way am I falling for that.

chocolateisavegetable · 15/04/2023 22:46

If you win, please could you buy me one of the massive slabs of chocolate from Hotel Chocolat?

NoodletheSchnoodle · 15/04/2023 22:48

user1473878824 · 15/04/2023 22:27

@PrincessHoneysuckle I won £100 a few months ago and while it was so incredibly helpful and welcome I was a bit worried I’d used up my lottery luck!

@NoodletheSchnoodle Going to buy our old rental which was absolutely home but we couldn’t afford when the landlord sold, extend the kitchen a bit and new fittings and the loft. New tiles in the bathroom because they were weirdly brown. A goth downstairs loo with Charles Addams prints, originals, obviously. While the house is being done it’ll be a bit dusty so naturally I will have to spend the time reading in a villa in Ithica so I don’t get too stressed. Pay off close friend’s mortgages. And my god, as much Botox as my face can take. As I am a multimillionaire buying the perfect jeans will no longer be an issue, they will just automatically be great, also the moment I am rich I will drop two stone which will help. I will give up work but do lots of benevolent things and just be terribly interesting.

I love the sound of your plans!
Especially buying back your home Smile