Holiday lottery rules 'not clear'
Saturday, August 8, 2009 @ 12:45 PM
National Lottery operator Camelot has been criticised for allowing people to buy tickets online while abroad despite them being unable to win any money. In countries including Spain and the US it is illegal for Britons to play the UK lottery, making their tickets void. But Camelot's website does not stop them buying tickets and consumer body Which? said the rules were not clear.
Camelot said it does warn people who buy online, but cannot provide a list of countries where playing is banned. The National Lottery website can be accessed from anywhere in the world, but in much of Europe, for example, local laws bar people from taking part in foreign lottery draws while on holiday there.
One Briton, Chris Jones, from Tyne and Wear, told the website thisismoney.co.uk that he lost out on more than £5,000 in prize money after buying a National Lottery ticket online while in Majorca.
"What annoys me is that they still accepted my money," he said.
Stephen McGlade, from Which?, said Camelot must do more to prevent such situations occurring.
"What we'd like Camelot to do is to invest more in the website so it makes it clear to people playing the lottery abroad that it is void with tickets if they purchased them abroad," he told the BBC.
"Secondly, there should be measures in place so that if I am in Spain and I play the lottery, I'm barred from doing so."
Camelot said it sent warning e-mails to its online players several times a year explaining the situation. Its website also warns that any ticket bought in a country where playing the lottery online is banned will not be valid, but Camelot said it would be impossible to provide a complete list of countries as local laws changed on a regular basis.
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