What happens after you win the Lottery?
A Special Advisor form the National Lottery talks to Downtown and Cool FM about what happens once you cash in that golden ticket.
Last updated 25th Sep 2020
Do you ever wondered what happens when someone wins a huge amount of money from The National Lottery?
Downtown and Cool FM has the answers for you.
Ahead of tonights’ huge 119 million pounds EuroMillions Superdraw our reporter Chelsie Kealey has interviewed Kathy Garrett, a Winners’ Advisor at The National Lottery for an exclusive insight into what goes on behind the scenes.
It is Kathy’s job to deliver the highly coveted prize money to the lucky winners with a bottle of champagne in toe.
She is part of a team of eight at Camelot a company which supplies the service at The National Lottery.
“The bigger the win the harder it is to keep the news under wraps because your life is going to change massively and not just your lives but the lives of the people around you.
The first thing you can expect after having your ticket validated is to meet up with Kathy or one of her colleges.
Normally the advisor would visit the new millionaires at their home but because of the Coronavirus pandemic social distancing has to be adhered to.
Therefore, the team would normally arrange a meeting in a larger space, like a hotel meeting room.
The next step is to check Identification, do some paper work, and bring in the bottle of champagne to the winners and arrange “lots and lots of support” for them, Kathy added:
“As a Winners’ Advisor I would be supporting you right from the day you claim your prize right the way through weeks, months and even years after your win.”
The service that Kathy and her colleges offer is free, but if the winners choose to follow advice and need to contact a solicitor or financial advisor those service then need to be paid for by the new winner.
The team at Camelot help support people mentally, emotional and financially for wins over 50 thousand pounds.
Kathy knows that the potential winner will be in shock – and dealing with a rollercoaster of varying emotions after receiving the unexpected news she said:
“It’s massively important to be there to support and advise our winners. It’s a life changing event particularly with this sum of money.
“You can imagine people living day-to-day and suddenly everything is all up in the air because you’ve won all this money.
“It is fantastic, but with a large win there’s things you would need to think about which you hadn’t even thought about before.
“It is a bit of an emotional roller-coaster ride for our winners and it’s a bit of a bumpy icky curve and what we’re trying to do is make that curve is as smooth as possible.
“So that’s why it’s so important that we’re there every step of the way to guide you and advise you on all these things that you need to think about.”
The team at Camelot work closely with professional like solicitors, life coaches, financial advisors and a concierge company, Kathy added:
“We’ve got a concierge company to help you if you want a private jet to take you off when this Covid thing is all lifted, and you want to fly off to the Bahamas.
“There’s a concierge company that’s there to help you really enjoy the win.
“It’s a real balance, doing all the practical stuff while also really enjoying and making the most of your win.
“It’s hugely important that they have a winner’s advisor to help guide them through that.”
The service also liaises with security experts to provide tips on everything from keeping property secure to social media and cyber security.
Currently more than £75 Billion pounds in prise money has been paid out since the National Lottery Launched in 1994 and more than 5,700 millionaires have been made.
“People would ask why did winners want to go public? Why did they want the big check and the champagne?
Last year the Moira Couple, Frances and Patrick Connolly, won a staggering £114,969,775.700.
When asked why Lottery winners go public with their new fortune Kathy said it is because the company can help them organise press briefings, conferences and deal with the publicity.
However, if people choose not to avail of the support, they have to navigate this process on their own, which after a huge shock could prove challenging.
“We don’t advise winners to take publicity, it’s entirely the winner’s choice whether they choose to do that or not.
“It’s our job to tell them what can happen. The pros and the cons but it’s entirely the winner’s choice.
“The bigger the win the harder it is to keep the news under wraps because your life is going to change massively and not just your lives but the lives of the people around you.
“That can be a real strain.
“How do you give money away? How do you help people, which is what a lot of Lottery winners want to do, and explain where that money has come from?
“People would ask why did winners want to go public? Why did they want the big check and the champagne?
“It’s because we can help them and guide them through that because unless they take publicity with Camelot, with the publicity side we can’t help them if they don’t.
“Then they have the opportunity to tell their story, they get the opportunity to meet other winners as well, which is usually helpful to them later on down the line, but it’s always entirely their choice.”
Tonight’s jackpot prize amount in pounds sterling is dependent on exchange rates. If nobody wins the jackpot tonight, it will roll over to the next draw.