What do you do when you have a winning lottery ticket for over £500? The answer was not generally known to most players, but lottery operator Allwyn has issued some guidance following a number of complaints from lottery winners who could not cash their winnings in at their local post office or corner shop.  

Winners of £500-£50,000 must now follow an online process to claim their winnings, which includes providing personal details and sending in their winning ticket.

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Lower Cash Prize Winners Frustrated at Delay in Payout 

This has led to frustration among some winners, including Sergei Cofie-Squire, who won £1,500 but is still waiting to receive his prize after four weeks, and Ray Laird, a 69-year-old taxi driver who won £800 but has yet to receive his winnings. 

Stacey Weaver, a 58-year-old civil servant from Battersea, London, won £1,750 in the National Lottery by matching five numbers on June 8. However, she was left without a penny due to the new rule. 

Stacey attempted to claim her prize at her local corner shop but was told that she would have to receive a cheque instead. She finally received a cheque from Allwyn, but it bounced, leaving her without the promised prize money. The mum-of-two has been left feeling frustrated over the ordeal. 

An Allwyn spokesperson attributed the delays to a new claims process and increased volumes of players contacting them. 

Allwyn promised to continue improving the process and have introduced a trial for prizes under £1,000 that no longer require sending in the winning ticket. 

Huddersfield Big Lottery Winner Oliver Scoops £77k on EuroMillions 

For those like 34-year-old Oliver Price from Huddersfield, who won a fantastic £77,616.40 prize on EuroMillions, the process remains: 

• Check your ticket 
• Contact the operator’s claims team 

Oliver has already drawn up a list of destinations he’s looking forward to visiting, including the US, thanks to the windfall. 

He said that he and his partner have Disney World Florida at the top of their wishlist, but that he would also like to travel to other parts of the world.  

Oliver said that the win didn’t quite seem real yet and that it is still sinking in. When he saw a message from the National Lottery saying he was a winner, he said he could not quite believe it. 

Oliver said: “I thought it would be about a fiver. I had to wait until the morning to find out exactly how much we had won and when the amount came up in front of me, I couldn’t believe it!”