# The biggest unclaimed lottery prizes?

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2021/08/27/the-biggest-unclaimed-lottery-prizes/
- Published: 2021-08-27T08:20:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**What are the largest lottery prizes to go unclaimed? And whose vast sums are then
redistributed to other beneficiaries such as charities or the state?**

Every now and again we hear about a massive National Lottery sum that has gone unclaimed
because the winner has not come forward. There is usually media coverage letting
us know the town in which the ticket was bought and the deadline by which the winning
ticket must be presented in order to claim the prize.

But what are the biggest unclaimed lottery prizes? The biggest what-ifs?

## Advertisement

Today is **International Lottery Day** and online gaming site [PartyCasino](https://casino.partycasino.com/en)
has shared its answers.
The largest jackpot to go unclaimed was from a Florida lottery
in the USA. A **$369.9 million** prize was won by a ticket bought in Bonita Springs,
Florida in January 2020. If the money is not claimed in the allotted time (between
180 days and a year in the US), the prize will expire and the cash will go to the
state to use as it sees fit.

The UK’s biggest unclaimed win was from June 2012, when a Euromillions prize worth**
£63.8 million** was never picked up by its unfortunate owner. The ticket was bought
in the Stevenage or Hitchin areas of Hertfordshire but, after the allowed time period
to claim expired, **the money was distributed among charitable causes**.

## Largest lottery wins for individuals

At the other end of the scale, here, according to PartyCasino, are the largest lottery
wins in the world to date. I’ve no idea if the recipients donated any of their winnings
to one or more nonprofits.

The biggest lottery jackpot win ever took place on 13 January 2016, when three couples
in the USA shared a total prize pot of **$1.586 billion** in America’s Powerball
game.

Meanwhile, the largest ever single-ticket jackpot winner was also in the States,
when an unnamed South Carolina resident took home **$1.537 billion** courtesy of
the Mega Millions lottery in 2018.

 * **[Closing date approaching for 2022 National Lottery Awards nominations](https://fundraising.co.uk/2022/05/26/closing-date-approaching-for-2022-national-lottery-awards-nominations/)**(
   26 May 2022)
 * **[National Lottery raises record amount for good causes in first half of financial year](https://fundraising.co.uk/2022/11/24/national-lottery-raises-record-amount-for-good-causes-in-first-half-of-financial-year/)**(
   24 November 2022)
 * **[Charities & community groups awarded almost £252mn of National Lottery funding](https://fundraising.co.uk/2023/07/25/charities-community-groups-awarded-almost-252mn-of-national-lottery-funding/)**(
   25 July 2023)