My incredible lottery win turned into an absolute nightmare… I dreamed of being debt free but walked away empty handed
A STRUGGLING mom had scooped a lottery win which could pay off her debts but it quickly turned into a nightmare.
Brittany Wilson, of Florida, had cried from joy when she’d won $5,000 but it’s been an uphill battle to claim her prize.
Wilson’s finances were tight when one day she decided to try her luck and buy a lottery ticket.
“I was financially struggling … something just told me to go to the store and try out my winnings,” she told ABC.
Her gut feeling proved right when she came into a small fortune with a £5,000 prize.
The cash-strapped mother cried tears of joy, saying: “I was thinking about all the bills that I have held up, just paying those off.”
But her happiness quickly turned into despair when she went to collect her winnings at the Florida Lottery District Office.
Wilson was turned away empty-handed and slapped with a possible debt owed to the state.
State officials claimed her prize was being held because she had been overpaid in unemployment.
Thousands of residents had fallen foul when they received benefits they weren’t supposed to, according to Florida Commerce.
Wilson protested, saying she’d never been informed she owed the state money.
She fumed after she was kept on hold for hours trying to resolve the mishap.
“I’m waiting like almost two hours, at the max, three, just to speak with someone,” she blasted.
Wilson also claimed she collected $1,000 she’d won from a scratch off card in 2023 without any issues.
She pleaded: “With the times now, where [the price of] everything’s going up: rent’s going up, food’s going up. Let me have this money.”
Her saga was finally resolved after several weeks and she was able to claim her lottery winnings – with her debt erased from the system.
Rules on claiming lottery in UK
MANY of us have dreamed of winning the lottery and bagging enough to start that jet-set lifestyle we've always dreamed of.
But what do you actually do if you manage to scoop the jackpot?
- Contact the National Lottery
People can claim lottery prizes up to £500 at all participating National Lottery outlets.
Prizes over £501 must now be claimed directly from the National Lottery.
You should call the number on the back of your ticket, or on the confirmation email if you played online.
They will then check your personal details, such as verifying your identity and your bank account details to get paid your winnings.
- Verify your ticket
If you bought a paper ticket in-person from a retailer, it is advised signing the back of it after purchase so you can confirm it is indeed yours if there’s a winning claim to make.
You may then want to put it away somewhere safe until after the draw, as the ticket itself is required to be shown during the validation stages.
The winnings will arrive in your account within two working days if all is well.
- If you lost your ticket
Even if you lose your ticket for some reason and aren’t in possession of it, within 30 days of the draw there’s still a chance you could win if you believe you have a genuine claim.
All you have to do is make the claim in writing to the National Lottery.
However, if no-one comes forward with the winning ticket or tickets before the prize claim deadline, then the prize money – plus all the interest it has generated – will go to help National Lottery-funded projects across the UK.
Sheila Mango’s lotto winnings were also temporarily withheld by the state.
She was about to claim her $10,000 prize but was told that a warning had been flagged on her account, as reported by the CW affiliate WJXT.
“It’s extremely unfair. That went from like, the best day in a long time to the absolute worst in a long time,” she said.
But it turned out that the debt she reportedly owed was an error.
Lotto winner Maxine Tunstall was also told a debt was outstanding on her account when she didn’t owe a dime.
She was initially blocked from taking home the $10,000 lottery prize she had won.
Tunstall said she was kept on the phone for hours trying to resolve her case.
She was eventually able to take home her prize after the case was resolved.
