How The Irish National Lottery Will Work During Coronavirus Outbreak
Last Updated: Monday 23rd March 2020, 13:03 pm
The Irish National Lottery has announced the steps it will be taking to ensure that everything runs as smoothly as possible during the coronavirus outbreak, with all draws set to continue as normal at the current time.
Restrictions have been brought in across all aspects of life to help deal with the emergency and the National Lottery is also putting the health and safety of its employees and players first. Measures have therefore been put in place at the lottery’s Abbey Street headquarters in Dublin.
Visit the Irish Lottery Coronavirus Information page for more details about how the various draws may be affected.
Staff will work remotely as much as possible, so winners will no longer be able to walk in to claim prizes. If you win an award of €15,000 or more, you will have to telephone the National Lottery to make an appointment.
The claims process for other prizes will remain unchanged, so you can visit authorised retailers to collect smaller amounts or go to An Post Claim Centres for awards of up to €15,000. You have 90 days to claim any prizes from the date when the draw took place.
There is not expected to be any change to the draw schedule, so you can play games throughout the week by purchasing tickets from authorised retailers or taking part online.
When you play online, you receive an automatic notification if you win so you don’t have to keep a ticket safe or worry about checking the results. The majority of prizes are also paid straight into your online account so you will never miss out. In most cases you don’t even have to go out to claim them.
How to Claim Prizes
The National Lottery said in a statement: “Our priority is always the safety of our employees and our players and given recent developments, staff have been instructed to work remotely with a limited team on-site to facilitate draw and prize claims.
“The necessary preparations have been put in place so that all draw activity will take place as scheduled, with Lotto draws being conducted at 8pm on Wednesdays and Saturdays; EuroMIllions draws being held at 8pm on Tuesdays and Fridays; and Daily Million draws taking place twice daily (at 2pm and 9pm).
“As per our usual claims process, prizes up to and including €100 may be claimed at any National Lottery agent store across the country. Agents may pay higher prizes (up to and including €2,500) at their discretion.
“An Post Prize Claim Centres guarantee payment of prizes less than €15,000.
“All National Lottery prizes over €15,000 must be claimed at National Lottery HQ on Abbey Street in Dublin city centre. In light of the current circumstances, we are encouraging all of our lucky winners who have won prizes exceeding €15,000 to arrange an appointment by contacting our claims team by calling 1800 666 222 or 01 836 4444.”
