If you haven’t been able to claim your lottery prize in person due to the Stay At Home Order during the coronavirus outbreak, you’re getting additional time to collect your winnings.
Winners of lottery prizes that expire between March 10 and Aug. 1 have until Nov. 1 to claim them. The extended deadline is part of an effort by the state, including the legislature and the governor, to make sure lottery winners have enough time to collect their prizes.
Our Claim Centers closed temporarily on Monday, March 23 under the state’s Stay At Home Order to help protect the safety of the public, lottery players, and our employees.
Players with prizes of $599 or less can claim those prizes as usual at a retail location where lottery tickets are sold. Those with prizes of $600 or more have the option to mail in their claims to obtain their winnings.
We also set up a temporary Stay At Home claims process to assist those with larger prizes; extended the claim deadlines for all winning tickets that could expire during the closure; and temporarily lifted the requirement that prizes of $100,000 must be claimed in person.
That’s because we believe anyone who has the good luck to win a lottery prize should be paid. Prize money will be waiting for you when our Claim Centers reopen and you feel it is safe to visit.
We’re glad you get more time to do that.
What about smaller prizes, those under $600, does the claims deadline extension cover those too?
Yes. In almost all cases, you should be able to claim prizes under $600 at retail locations. There’s no need to wait since many of those locations are open. But the extension applies too all scratch-off and draw prizes.
I have a winning ticket from a drawing, but I got a message that it was too old or it has expired?
Some players who have older winning tickets from a draw game, purchased for drawings between the dates of Sept. 9, 2019 through Feb. 5, 2020, may initially be told or could see a message when checking them that says their tickets are too old or expired. If that were to happen, you should visit the lottery’s website site for information on how to mail in a claim and send their signed tickets and claims form to lottery headquarters.
Until Claim Centers reopen, what are my options for claiming my prize?
Here are the current options available to collect a lottery prize:
- Prizes up to $599 can be cashed at retail locations.
- Lottery tickets also can be mailed in. Winners of $100,000 or more are not required at this time to claim their prizes in person and a temporary Stay At Home Claims Process assists those with prizes of $600 or more. Claim forms can be downloaded from the lottery’s website by visiting www.nclottery.com/ClaimPrizes.
How do I get help collecting a prize?
We’re here to help you collect the prizes you have won. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we balance our responsibility to public health and to our players. The lottery’s Customer Services will continue to staff the toll-free helpline to assist lottery players with questions. The toll-free Customer Services line is 1-877-962-7529, option 0.. It is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. till 5 p.m.
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