Lotto jackpot winner running out of time to collect €3m

The holder of a winning Lotto ticket worth almost €3 million has just over a week to collect their prize before they lose it.

Winners of the National Lottery have 90 days to claim their money and the deadline is approaching for a ticket bought in Mayo last November.

The €3 quick pick was purchased in Tesco, Claremorris, and will net its owner €2.9 million if they present it to the National Lottery office by Friday, February 27th.

If they don’t, the money will go back into the National Lottery coffers where it will be used for marketing and good causes.

A spokeswoman said while it is rare that jackpots go uncollected, it has happened before. The largest amount that went unclaimed was from a ticket sold in Coolock in 2001 to the value of €3.4 million.

If no one picks up the Mayo jackpot it will be the second largest uncollected amount since the start of the lotto in 1987.

But the spokeswoman said there is still time and many winners have in the past turned up on the 90th day to claim their winnings. “One person came in with 90 minutes to go to collect their prize,” she said.

She said they advise people to check their tickets carefully in case they haven’t realised they’re holding a multi-million euro slip.

The winner must present the actual ticket to the National Lottery offices in Dublin to collect the prize. The winning numbers for the Mayo ticket were 7, 8, 18, 28, 35, 39, and the bonus number was 37. The draw was on November 29th, 2014.

Separately, a €10 million jackpot is still waiting to be collected. The winning ticket was sold in Newbridge, Co Kildare earlier this month. “It’s still early days” as far as that’s concerned, the spokeswoman said.