A spokesperson for Lotto said it aimed to pay most prizes claimed within seven working days. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Helen Button had never won anything significant from Lotto in the past.
So when she took her Lotto ticket to her local New World and discovered she had won $1469 on her Triple Dip ticket, she was excited to see the money land in her account.
"I was told I had won over $1000 so needed to complete a form, which I did with a New World staff member. This was all submitted via their scanner at the counter. That was the first time for me to win this amount as I have only won much smaller amounts previously.
"I have just been told after calling Lotto NZ on Thursday that I will have to wait at least 10 working days or longer, as they have a lot of claimants, in order to receive my money into my account. If it had been an amount under $1000 it would have been paid immediately. I would have thought with their new point of sale machines which scanned my ticket, it would have been much quicker than that.'
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She said it took the joy out of winning to have to wait so long.
A spokesperson for Lotto said it aimed to pay most prizes claimed within seven working days.
"If a customer has bought a paper ticket and filled out a prize claim form in-store, as soon as we receive that physical form at Lotto head office we start processing it for payment. For MyLotto wins, we start processing the claim as soon as it is submitted online.
"All prize claims under $1000 are paid out immediately in-store, or into a customer's My Lotto wallet online."
Photo: Supplied / Lotto NZ
Prize draw reaches $55 million
Powerball has reached $55 million for Saturday's draw.
If the big prize is not won, the money is shared among the winners of the next divisions.
In seven of the 12 "must be won" draws previously, the prize has been shared.
"It wouldn't be surprising if this jackpot went the same way," says Lotto NZ head of corporate communications Will Hine.
"The last three big $50 million must be won draws were all shared - and that's great because we know so many people benefited."
The most recent $50m must be won draw was in June 2024.
The jackpot rolled down to second division, and seven players each took home $7.18m.
One winner said: "We've paid off our mortgage, and helped family and friends with theirs, and bought a couple of new cars.
"We haven't managed to tick anything off the bucket list yet," they said, "but the list is ready, and we'll be starting that in the new year."
Another said the most extravagant thing they did was a shopping spree overseas, but day-to-day life hasn't changed much.
"We still check prices before buying things - that's not going to change."
They all agreed the first year felt surreal.
"Seeing how much interest the first term deposit earned us - we just couldn't believe it," one winner said.
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