National Lottery Exposed — UK Lotteries for UK Residents
National Lottery UK Review
Are you a fan of the National Lottery in the UK? If so, you probably want more than one opportunity to purchase tickets. Luckily, several options do exist, and one of them comes in the form of an official website – National-Lottery.co.uk.
As the name suggests, this website is launched and maintained by the official lottery operator in the UK (but more about that – later on in the review). Still, if you check out the comments underneath this guide, you’ll discover multiple complaints about the platform.
So, it’s our job today to take a look at the National Lottery website, review who owns National Lottery, and determine whether the criticism is justified or not. Let’s get started.
Which lottery agent is better? 24Lottos or UK National Lottery?
Games at National-lottery.co.uk
As you’ve probably guessed already, National Lottery online gives you access to the games that you can traditionally play via retail agencies in the UK.
To be more precise, you can benefit from the following selection – the UK Lotto, EuroMillions, Set for Life, Lotto Hotpicks, and Thunderball. On top of these games, you also have access to a selection of instant win lotteries like Monopoly and Triple Cashword Purple.
The UK Lotto also has scratchcards available for purchase, but for the time being, you can only access such opportunities in a store.
The next key question we have to ask is whether buying lottery tickets through the website is affordable.
We took the National Lottery Set for Life as an example. If you decide to play Set for Life in a store, you’ll have to spend 1.50 pounds per line. Now, via the website, National Lottery Set for Life luckily costs the same amount.
The same holds for National Lottery EuroMillions and the other games.
National Lottery UK and Claiming Your Prizes
To play online, you have to set up a National Lottery account. You will need to provide information about your age and location to pass the registration requirements.
Once you set up your profile, you will buy tickets through the National Lottery app, and you’ll also receive your prize money this way.
When playing online, there will be a distinction between regular prizes, Direct Debit, and Pingit rewards. There are detailed instructions about how to proceed with a prize claim, and the procedure will typically depend on the amount you’ve won.
For all games, prizes exceeding 50,000 pounds will have to be requested in person from Camelot. There’s a hotline you can call if you’ve won such a big amount. Once you get in touch with customer support, you’ll be provided with additional details about what will need to happen next.
As already mentioned, National Lottery scratch card games cannot be played via the online platform. Thus, you’ll need to go to a store to purchase, as well as to cash out anything you’ve won.
Who Can Play at National-Lottery.co.uk?
Unfortunately, the National Lottery app is not open to people from all parts of the world.
National Lottery UK is a strictly regional website. You have to be located in the UK, and you have to be over the age of 16 to set up an account.
As previously mentioned, some of the more massive prizes have to be claimed in person. Hence, you cannot utilize the platform from out of the UK.
The good news is that many other online lottery operators carry games from the UK, and you can rely on such online tools to get your tickets.
Who’s Behind National Lottery?
Who owns National Lottery and the official website it operates?
If you’re in the UK, you probably know already that the national operator is called Camelot UK Lotteries Limited.
The Camelot Group was set up in 1994, and Camelot UK Lotteries Limited is a part of that entity. On top of operating the lotteries in the UK, Camelot is also the operator of the Illinois State Lottery in the US since 2018.
Camelot is a well-established entity that adheres to all UK regulations for a lottery operator. While there have been some controversies over the years (a franchise scandal and a later ticket fraud issue that occurred in 2009), Camelot has maintained its stability.
If you want to get in touch with the National Lottery UK team, you can do so by calling their hotline. Other communication methods include webchat, Minicom, and post.
Other Bits and Pieces
We searched Google for complaints on National-lottery.co.uk and found nothing. We did find a high number of fraudulent emails using their name in circulation. These appear to have started in 2010, originating in India. The emails advise people that they have won a lump sum in the UK National Lottery. But this isn’t National-lottery.co.uk’s fault, and it is just people taking advantage of their good reputation.
The reviews left on our website pertain mostly to games in the UK and how Camelot changed some of the rules lately. As far as the operations of the National Lottery website go, there aren’t that many negative experiences being shared.
Finally, if you’re looking for some additional opportunities available through the website, you’ll probably be disappointed. There’s no syndicate play, add-ons, or web exclusives. Bonuses are also not available, and this makes the national operator’s website different from many of the online lotto agencies out there.
Let’s sum up the website’s biggest benefits and disadvantages
Why You Should Register With National Lottery UK
Pros:
Run and operated by an official national entity
An extensive portfolio of UK lotteries
The price of tickets is the same as when you go to buy from a store
Instant online games are also available for playing
Simple ticket buying and prize claim procedures
Multiple customer support options are available
On the downside:
Why You Shouldn’t Register With National Lottery UK
Cons:
Scratch-off games cannot be acquired via the platform
You have to be in the UK to benefit from this portal
There are no bonuses, add-ons, or syndicate play to enjoy online
Is National Lottery UK Legit?
If you want to access the latest National Lottery draw, but you don’t feel like going out and getting your ticket in person, National-Lottery.co.uk would offer a friendly alternative. All in all, this is a reliable and legitimate opportunity. Anyone who is in the UK can easily benefit from the website to modernize their lottery playing experience.
May Reilly
I would like to say that I never had any doubt that the National Lottery is legit.
But why was I locked out of my account? I tried to sign in but was told my account has been suspended…. No explanation
May Reilly (an annoyed customer.)
Trevor Mansell
The lottery is nothing but a con job, it is run by a for profits company who take their cut first, then they pay govt taxes, then their staff, they work out how much they can pay in prizes and then what they have left they put in the pot for good causes. When they increased the price and the required amount of numbers needed for a top prize they knew there would be more rollovers than winners therefore getting more interest in their bank to share among their share holders highly unlikely that any of that interest goes to the good causes that are being ripped off as much as the players.
Mark
Complete rip off, week after week of rollovers then suddenly 1 winner, complete rip off, disgrace the lottery is, should scrap it.
STEVE PEARN
Don’t trust the new licence holder (Allwyn)
When Camelot had the licence and I wanted to withdraw funds from my online account to my bank account, I ALWAYS received them in under 24 hours.
I requested a transfer on the 31st January and am still waiting!
Phoned Allwyn up and was told, it can take between 3 and 5 working days.
Phoned them up two days ago and was told it can take up to 10 days
(considering it’s such basic information, they should all be reading off the same hymn sheet!)
I took a look at their Complaints Procedure – “We aim to respond within 24 hours”…..they didn’t!
Escalated my complaint to Stage 2 – now it’s the fault of a payment clearance/holding centre!!
Obviously I can’t prevent anyone playing online and transferring money over to their online account using their debit card details, but what I can do, is assure you, that everything I’ve wrote is the truth.
Therefore, if you don’t mind waiting an eternity for your requested refund to show up in your bank account, being given conflicting information and being ignored when you complain, go ahead and
give this dodgy company your hard earned money.
Tom Madon
I play the Weekly drawers and as the other reviews suggest its now very difficult and expensive to win a prize. So I went online tp play instant win games as the advertised odds ie 1 in 2.3 to 1 in 3 was a much fairer way of winning. I was wrong as the odds they advertised are incorrect. I play the same game and I can go upto 20 games without winning a dime! and when I do win its like a £1 win. Pathetic save your money.