I won £10,000 on a scratchcard but I haven't received a penny because the National Lottery are 'ghosting' me

A scratchcard winner says she’s gone from ‘cloud nine’ to feeling ‘utterly deflated’ after being ‘ghosted’ by the National Lottery over her winnings.

Jennifer Gothard was ‘over the moon’ after winning £10,000 on her £3 ‘triple cashword’ scratchcard in March.

Jumping with joy over her good luck, she immediately got in touch with the National Lottery to submit her claim but five weeks later Jennifer is still waiting to hear back about her prize money.

“It’s extremely frustrating,” said Jennifer, who lives in Cleveleys. “It’s been over a month and I still have my scratchcard and have not had a penny of my £10,000 prize.

“I got off the phone with them the other day and was basically told I’ll just have to wait.

“They can’t even tell me whether I’ve really won or not. They apparently have a big backlog of claims to get through and they still haven’t got around to checking mine.

“To be honest, I've gone from being over moon and on cloud nine to feeling completely deflated. 

“I was so excited and happy about my big win. Finally, it was like I’d been given a break and the chance for a fresh start after a really tough few years.

“But I’m beginning to lose hope with the lack of communication, the timescales and generally the fact that I don't have my win after five weeks.

“I’m starting to worry whether they’ll pay out at all.”

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What’s on Jennifer’s shopping list? A fresh start...

We asked Jennifer what will be on her shopping list when she does get her hands on the cash.

She said: “This is really the jump start I've been working towards, to restart my life again after my marriage collapsed.

“It means I can finally start working to live, rather than living to work, for the first time in what feels like forever.

“I will finally be debt free, and maybe get ahead on a couple of payments.

“But most of all I can finally get divorced, do some decorating and enjoy a much-needed holiday for me and my mum.

“It feels so good being able to treat her for a change,” said Jennifer.

“My mum survived a ruptured AAA (abdominal aortic aneurysm) just two days after my win and we’ve all been so worried about her.

“Now we just need the National Lottery to pay up and the doctors to give my mum the 'good to go' and we can jet off somewhere sunny and nice.

“Oh and maybe I'll treat myself to a new pair of boots!”

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Will Jennifer get her money?

We asked Allwyn, the operators who took over the National Lottery last month, about Jennifer’s winning scratchcard and why it’s taking so long to hand her the prize money.

They said winners around the UK are experiencing delays receiving prize money due to the Post Office opting not to renew its contract with the National Lottery.

It means, since February 1, Post Offices can no longer pay out cash prizes over £500.

As a result, Allwyn has had to make arrangements to pay out mid-tier prizes directly, rather than through the Post Office.

An Allwyn spokesperson said: "We're very sorry to hear of Ms Gothard's concerns and will be in touch with her with an update.

“This is a new claims process we’ve had to introduce following the Post Office's decision to no longer pay National Lottery retail prizes between £500.01 and £50,000 (what we call 'mid-tier prizes').

“As a result of it being new, we’ve been experiencing higher volumes of players contacting us and some initial delays to players receiving their prizes.

“We've since increased the number of colleagues to assist with claims – which is helping us send out prizes more quickly – and are continuing to work to make improvements to the process.

“For example, we recently started a trial where anyone winning under £1,000 no longer needs to send in their winning ticket to us to help speed up the process.

“We'd like to reassure anyone affected that they will receive their prize.”