What if winning the lottery meant fake friends, house robberies, and jealousy? Andy Carter, Camelot’s Senior Winners Adviser in Cardiff, UK, has shared some top tips on making sure the whole world doesn’t find out about your good fortune.
A National Lottery chief has enlightened the public on what happens to lucky winners whose numbers come up – and how they avoid the whole world finding out. It turns out that not everyone hands in their notice immediately after finding out about their win.
It takes just 48 hours for winnings to be transferred, revealed Andy Carter, Camelot’s Senior Winners Adviser in Cardiff. But to avoid your happy news leaking, he recommends you open a special account, which staff in your local branch will know nothing about.
Andy gives some advice below…
You ring the number on the back of your ticket to make your claim. That call will get through to a call center where staff are dedicated to dealing with Lottery related matters. £50k or above means your details are passed on to me and my team and we arrange to pay you a visit. Under £50k and you can just go along to a post office and have the money paid out to you there via a cheque.
When we pay a visit to you, we make sure the winners have the support and advice they need as we take them though process and all the paperwork. It’s about holding their hand during what can be a really head-spinning moment in their lives.
The winnings are transferred electronically in 48 hours and we recommend it doesn’t go into a normal high street savings account – instead we suggest winners open a private account (most of the big banks have teams which deal only with Lottery winners and the very wealthy ) which is shielded from the knowledge of ordinary branch staff. That way no one can leak news of a person’s win.
It depends how long we will stay with through this process- some people might not have anyone around them to chat to, particularly those who wish to remain anonymous. So they might choose to stay in touch a lot longer, just to talk things over.
Usually, it’s those who elect to have their win made public with whom we have the longest relationship because they act as advocates for us. The private ones generally tend to move on the quickest.
A couple of weeks later we’ll have a follow-up meeting with a lawyer and a financial expert. This is to make sure everyone’s happy with their decisions and to answer any questions they might have.
We also put them in touch with other winners. Often they’re the only ones who can empathize with how they’re feeling. Make no mistake, winning can be a shock and can take a lot of getting used to.
Many winners don’t wish to give up their jobs after the win are pretty reserved as a rule. There have been a few times when someone’s told me they can’t meet because they’re too busy with work!
I think it’s because the majority of them never expected to win in the first place. It’s like when people retire and, for a while, feel a bit lost as to what to do next.
No, I’m not allowed. Neither can I accept money or gifts off winners. I’ve had some people offer to take me out to dinner but I always have to turn them down.
It’s a rare privilege, though, to be part of someone’s life for such a momentous period.
Although I know they won’t remember my name, I know they’ll never forget the day they met me.
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