A National Lottery-winning pensioner has been left relying on food banks after a month-long delay in receiving his hard-earned winnings.
Pete Daly, 71, from the Wirral, has been playing the lottery for a decade – but despite winning over £500 in July, he has been left in dire financial straits and unable to afford basic necessities as he waits for his payout.
Daly’s ordeal began when he rang to claim his winnings and was told the money would be paid out within 10 days.
But 34 days after his lucky EuroMillions draw, the pensioner was still waiting for his prize.
“I won £582.20, and every time I ring them up I get a different story,” Daly said.
The delay came at a tough time for the 71-year-old – after shelling out for his car insurance renewal, expecting the winnings to arrive promptly, Daly found himself without funds to cover his monthly expenses.
The weeks-long delay has left the pensioner in a precarious position, unable to afford a haircut or new shoes, and even forcing him to rely on food banks.
“I’m stuck in the house, I can’t afford to go anywhere, I can’t afford the waste of fuel,” he lamented to the Liverpool Echo.
MORE LOTTERY HEARTBREAK:
National Lottery app outage leaves thousands of Britons unable to access results or buy tickets
National Lottery £50,000 winner’s dreams crushed after being informed of ‘glitch’
National Lottery player ‘informed he’d won £11million’… but was delivered bad news when he went to claim prize
He continued: “I need this money, I’m struggling, money is the difference to being able to live, it sorts me to be able to live, not living well, but living.”
The National Lottery has responded to Daly’s predicament, offering an apology and explanation for the delay.
A spokesman for lottery operator Allwyn said: “We’re very sorry to hear the concerns raised and colleagues have now called Daly with an update.”
They explained: “This is following the introduction of a revised claims process that we had to bring in earlier this year following the Post Office’s decision to no longer pay National Lottery retail prizes between £500.01 and £50,000.
“Unfortunately, a small number of these claims are delayed for various reasons.
Despite the setback, National Lottery officials assured Daly that he will receive his payout.
The spokesman added: “We’re continuing to work on new ways to help further improve the claims process and would like to reassure our winners that they will definitely receive their prize.”
