Monitoring and oversight of unclaimed National Lottery winnings
Unclaimed National Lottery winnings are subject to oversight and monitoring by the Regulator of the National Lottery, in terms of the way and when they are spent.
1. The Regulator of the National Lottery is an independent office established under the National Lottery Act 2013 solely to regulate the National Lottery in accordance with the legislation and the Licence awarded to the Operator of the National Lottery.
2. Clause 6.9.2 of the Licence requires that any expired, unclaimed prizes go the Operator of the National Lottery - to be used solely for the promotion of the National Lottery and/or National Lottery games within 365 days.
3. The Operator reports annually to the Regulator on (a) the value of expired unclaimed prizes and (b) its expenditure on promoting the National Lottery.
4. The amount of expired unclaimed National Lottery prizes in each of the years 2016 to 2021 was as follows.
|
Year
|
Expired Unclaimed Prizes
€
|
|
2016
|
€16,359,564
|
|
2017
|
€16,164,125
|
|
2018
|
€18,922,846
|
|
2019
|
€18,993,483
|
|
2020
|
€17,026,536
|
|
2021
|
€17,054,620
|
5. The Regulator reviews the Operator’s compliance with Clause 6.9.2 of the Licence and monitors the transfers of expired unclaimed prizes to the Operator.
The Regulator also oversees the actions of the Operator to prevent prizes going unclaimed. For example, the Regulator monitors large, unclaimed prizes to ensure that the Operator is taking appropriate steps to alert players and the general public and find the winner before the prize expires.
The current contract/Licence
The current Licence to operate the National Lottery expires in 2034 (20 years from 30 November 2014).
The Licence does not include a “break clause” for renegotiation.
Future contracts/Licences
The Regulator of the National Lottery is responsible for holding a competition for the next licence.
Section 25 of the National Lottery Act 2013 provides that the Minister may issue a direction to the Regulator in relation to the next licence to be granted following the expiry (or revocation) of the existing licence and the Regulator must ensure that the licence is in accordance with this direction.
Section 26 of the National Lottery Act 2013 provides that the Regulator will draft the next licence to be issued as part of this competition and the draft shall be submitted to the Minister for approval before being issued.
