I won £1MILLION jackpot but couldn’t claim it because of Lottery ‘rule’ – staff told me there was nothing they could do
A WOMAN has revealed how she landed a huge £1 million jackpot – only to be told she couldn’t claim it due to a little-known Lotto rule.
Terri Picton-Clark, 72, said she and husband John, 72, decided to pick up a Lucky Dip ticket while they were on their way to browse a hardware shop.
The grandmother, who works at an equine therapy centre, said: “On our way to our kitchen appointment, we stopped off to get some petrol and John bought a Lottery ticket – he always buys a Lucky Dip.
“He said to me, ‘you never know, we might win the Lottery’, to which I replied ‘Oh, you always say that!’.”
The following Monday, John returned to the garage shop to check his winnings – but was confused by the cashier’s response.
The employee purportedly said: “You are going to have to call Camelot, you’ve won too much money.”
For small lottery prizes, winners can normally claim their earnings from the shop where they bought the ticket.
At the time of Terri and John’s win, larger prizes – between £500 and £50,000 – needed to be claimed at participating Post Office branches, though these now have to be claimed online.
Because of this rule, Terri quickly twigged that the couple may have landed a huge prize – but little did she know quite how big.
Recalling John’s phone conversation with the lottery operator, she said: “I was working on a Zoom call when John came in waving the ticket about, and I mouthed to him ‘what are you doing?’ but continued the call, ignoring him.
“We were thinking it was around £50,000, but when Camelot confirmed it was £1 million, John was very calm as usual and I was the one jumping up and down!”
Despite the confusing rule delaying the couple claiming their prize, they were delighted with the result.
Terri said: “John gave the shop assistant at the garage who sold him the ticket £100 and said to her, ‘make sure you don’t do anything sensible with the money’.”
The pair then enjoyed a few bottles of champagne, with Terri joking: “John didn’t get up until 3pm the next day!”
They have since used some of the money to support family and friends.
The horse lover and amateur ballroom dancer said: “We’ve helped friends who are home-schooling their children.
“We bought another laptop for them to make things a little easier and we also bought one for my grandchild to help my son.
“To be able to tell friends who have always been there for you that you can help them feels amazing.”
The couple also shared that they were thinking of either a trip to Antarctica or a skiing holiday with the grandkids.
Terri said: “I would love to go again, if I can still do it! John has never been on a winter holiday.”
John and Terri first met 25 years ago while working together, but their relationship didn’t work out with Terri describing John as “the one that got away”.
However, shortly after the huge Beast from the East storm, the estranged lovers reunited.
Terri continued: “I came home from a really dreadful date and wondered if that was all there was out there for me.
“I went back on the dating site for one last look and came across John who was stranded in the same area due to the blizzard.
“I thought to myself, ‘I know him’, so I messaged him and asked if he remembered me.
“He replied and said, ‘Of course I remember you and you’re looking even better than you did all those years ago!’
“We met up that weekend and the rest is history.”
Terri won five ballroom and two Latin titles during her amateur dancing career.
What are my chances of winning the lottery?
EVERYONE wants to know how to beat the odds and win the lottery.
But unfortunately, the lottery is a game of luck and there are no tips or tricks that can guarantee you’ll take home a top prize.
The odds show how likely you are to win any particular prize – the lower the number, the better the odds.
For example, odds of 1 in 10 are better than odds of 1 in 100 or 1 in 1,000.
There are several major lottery games in the UK including Lotto by the National Lottery, Camelot’s EuroMillions and Thunderball.
Chances of winning the Lotto
Lotto by the National Lottery is a game where you pick six numbers from 1 to 59. You can play up to seven lines of numbers on each slip.
The game costs £2 to play per slip.
The odds of winning any prize on the Lotto are 1 in 9.3.
But to win the jackpot on the Lotto, the odds are considerably slimmer.
To bag the top prize, you need to have six matching balls. The odds of doing this and scooping the jackpot are currently 1 in 45,057,474.
The next highest prize of £1,000,000 is for getting five main matching balls plus the bonus ball.
The odds of taking home the million pound prize are 1 in 7,509,579 – far higher than the jackpot, but still unlikely.
The odds of taking home £1,750 for getting five main numbers without the bonus ball are 1 in 2,180, while you have a 1 in 97 chance of bagging £140 for getting four main numbers.
Your chances of taking home £30 for getting 3 main numbers are much better at 1 in 97.
And you have a roughly 1 in 10 chance of getting a free lucky dip for 2 matching numbers.
Chances of winning the EuroMillions
The EuroMillions costs £2.50 to play and is open on Tuesdays and Fridays.
To play, you must pick five numbers from 1-50 and two “Lucky Stars” from 1-12. Players with the most matching numbers win the top prizes.
Your chance of bagging the EuroMillions jackpot is even slimmer than winning the top Lotto prize.
This is because it generally has higher jackpots on offer, meaning it attracts more attention.
Currently, the odds of matching five numbers and two lucky stars – the top win – stand at 1 in 139,838,160.
The average jackpot prize is £57,923,499, according to EuroMillions.
The odds of winning the second top prize for matching 5 balls and a lucky star, which is typically around £262,346, are 1 in 6,991,908.
The chances of taking home the third prize for five matching balls, with an average payout of £26,277, are 1 in 3,107,515.
For four matching balls with two lucky stars, it’s 1 in 621,503, and for four balls with one lucky star, it’s 1 in 31,076. These come with an average prize of £1,489 and £95, respectively.
Chances of winning the Thunderball
Thunderball is another game run by National Lottery where you pick five numbers and one “Thunderball”. It costs just £1 to play and you can enter up to four times a week.
The jackpot of £500,000 for matching five balls plus the Thunderball is 1 in 8,060,598.
Your odds of bagging the next highest prize of £5,000 for matching five balls is currently 1 in 620,046, while the chances of winning £250 for four balls plus the Thunderball is 1 in 47,416.
You have the best chance of winning £3 for matching the Thunderball, with odds of 1 in 29.