By Todd Northrop
For one person who bought a winning Florida Lotto ticket in April, there are just hours to go before that piece of paper becomes worthless.
The current value of that lottery ticket? $15 million. As of late Friday it was still unclaimed, and if the ticket-holder does not turn in the winning ticket by midnight tonight, their dreams will just be dreams.
The ticket was purchased April 22 at The Beer and Liquor Store on Morrison Avenue, just east of Military Trail in western Lake Worth.
The winning ticket numbers — 11-13-14-21-35-43 — expire tonight at midnight.
If you think you may have purchased a Florida Lotto in April, check your closets, your pockets, under your bed, your wallets, your purses, your bibles — any place you might have stashed a lottery ticket.
Time is quickly running out, and $15 million is on the line.
Update Oct. 20, 9:19 am: Unfortunately the winner did not step forward last night, so the $15 million jackpot is now expired.
So what happens to the unclaimed $15 million?
Florida law requires that 80 percent of unclaimed prize funds from expired tickets be transferred directly to the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund. The remaining 20 percent is returned to the prize pool from which future prizes are awarded or used for special prize promotions.
So at least players will be able to get some of that cash back in the way of prizes.
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dear lord, please oh please let it expire !!
Its an amazing but true fact that some people are sitting on a lottery fortune without even realising it. Millions of Dollars of lottery money are left unclaimed each year before the claim date runs out. Once the claim date expires this money cannot be claimed and the lottery winner will become a lottery loser.
sad and true ... but thats what happens when ya let tourists play jejeje
Are you British? ("Realising")
Or is this text copied from a British news article?
Edit: Found it - I guess you copy and pasted the content from a British website called "Unclaimed Finances". You did change "pounds" to "Dollars" however. Strange!
I too was thinking it was a tourist, tossed the ticket in the luggage or what have you and forgot all about it.
May have been a Military member who was shipped out overseas and lost the ticket.
See your story mentions the road, Military Trail.
Always a sad story when these winning tickets get lost,misplaced, or thrown away in error.
What are the odds of the winner claiming before midnight. Cinderella's bewitching time.
This is why I favor a player's card system. More state lotteries should offer the option. The other option is a subscription, if you win a large prize the lottery will contact you, small prizes are credited to your subscription account.
Both offer protection against loss or theft of your ticket.
While, it is a pity that some loose on the chance of long-term financial security because they loose or fail to check their tickets.
But every cloud has a silver lining, society benefits from the revenue which is unclaimed.
The reason for state lotteries is to raise revenue, which includes unclaimed prizes.
One thing I like about UK Treasury Premium Bonds, which the US Treasury should copy, is there is no expiry date. There are around £44million of unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes waiting for their unwitting owners to claim them.
If you think you may have missed the boat by leaving a prize unclaimed for too long, there is good news. There is no time limit for claiming these forgotten prizes.
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) said the most common reason for winners failing to claim prizes was forgetting to pass on their new address when they move home. More than a third of people who have lost touch with their savings have moved and failed to tell all their financial providers their new address, according to a survey for NS&I. Half of the people questioned said they found it difficult to remember all of the accounts they had opened over the years.
Realize is one of the many commonly misspelled words...
These kinds of stories can be heart- breaking, but they don't have to be. Now IF the holder just happens to be a member of LP/ visitor & he/ she reads this piece- hopefully the brain can reset to lead them to their hideout and retrieve that ticket in time.Having their Rip Vanwinkle moment interrupted would be well worth it....don't you think?
Here's to hoping!
The British National Lottery has some £300m worth of prizes that have gone unclaimed. Prizes need to be claimed within 180 days of the draw date, after which time the money goes to Good Causes.
Prizes up to £50,000 can be claimed by post. Any amount above £50,000 must be claimed in person from a National Lottery Regional Centre and will be paid by cheque. You will be required to complete a prize claim form and provide proof of your identity.
Which came first, British English or America English?
Military Trail is a major road in Palm Beach County and is used as an alternative to the highway. Its name lies in its origin, as an actual military trail back in the 1800s, not with anything recent. Since it's in Palm Beach, I'm wondering if a snowbird bought a ticket in Florida then flew back to a northern state and forgot all about it.
Don't these lottery places close by a certain time? What happens if a person attempts to present the ticket but can't because the office is closed?
In any case, I thought of you when I read the article because one does have to wonder if a higher power has anything to do with who wins the lottery when stuff like this happens. A person who isn't going to claim the ticket won, while there are so many people who are desperate to hit it, big didn't win. Strikes me as a tad unfair. I'd hate to think a deity was messing with us like this. I thought only the Greek gods were this mischievous.
Teddi : l * Think a few rules should be put in place before one purchases lottery tickets.
Rule # 1: Be Sober and Cleared headed .
Rule #2 : Put your tickets in a safe place,more importantly let your significant other Know in advance where this spot is in the event that you become loaded and forget. If confused about the rules- refer to Rule # 1. Its explains it all.
** I thought only the Greek gods were this mischievous.-......well NASA's Curiosity Rover captured an image of 'Buddha' on Mars- try and top that for mischievousness!
Well, another one bites the dust. $5,000,000.00 cash is lost. Will we ever hear from the winner?
Lottery sleeves are useful, I don't understand why these lottery players don't have one.
A Player's Registration Card would be ideal for people in the military, especially for forward plays. Any small prizes could be credited to the card. For any large winnings, the lottery will have the player's contact details.
I pray someone claim the prize.
Let's hope they never find out.
The ticket was purchased at a liquor store. The poor schlep who bought it probably got some booze at the same time, went and got drunk, then misplaced or lost the ticket. If he ever finds that ticket and realizes what happened, he'll want to stay drunk for a long time!
I wonder why the winner didn't claim there prize. Maybe they were a tourist, deceased, lost there ticket and didn't realize they had a winner? Either way, it's a shame but at least the money is going to help some other organization.
Please always check the date when you check your tickets, never had a big win but have found that some time, have look back at the tickets to see that I had 2 or 3 right, check winning draw date