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Gambling Act 2003

Institutions - New Zealand Lotteries Commission - Operation of New Zealand lotteries

256: Unclaimed prizes

You could also call this:

"What happens to lottery prizes if winners don't claim them within 12 months"

Illustration for Gambling Act 2003

If you win a prize in a New Zealand lottery, you have 12 months to claim it. If you do not claim your prize within 12 months, the Lotteries Commission will keep the prize money in a special account, as stated in rules made under section 243 or provisions specified by the Minister under section 244(1)(a). The prize money will then be used for future lotteries.

If the rules do not say what to do with the unclaimed prize, the Lotteries Commission will move the prize money to another account, as directed by the Secretary, after 12 months. This money will be treated like the profits from lotteries that have not been given out. You can find out more about this account in section 286.

When you play an instant game, the date it closes is important for claiming prizes. The closure date is either when the last ticket is sold or when unsold tickets are cancelled. If there are additional prizes, the closure date is when those prizes are decided, as stated in section 246.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM209761.

Topics:
Money and consumer rights > Gambling
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255: No entitlement to interest, or

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257: Funds of Lotteries Commission, or

"The Lotteries Commission's money and how it is used"

Part 3Institutions
New Zealand Lotteries Commission: Operation of New Zealand lotteries

256Unclaimed prizes

  1. If any prize in a New Zealand lottery is not claimed within 12 months after the drawing of that lottery, or any prize in a New Zealand lottery that is an instant game is not claimed within 12 months after the date of closure of that instant game,—

  2. the Lotteries Commission must retain the prize in the lottery prize fund account, if so provided in rules made under section 243 or provisions specified by the Minister under section 244(1)(a); and
    1. the prize then forms, in accordance with those rules or provisions, a part of the prize pool for any New Zealand lottery conducted at a later date.

      1. If rules made under section 243 or provisions specified by the Minister under section 244(1)(a) do not provide for the retention of an unclaimed prize in the lottery prize fund account, then, at the expiry of the 12-month period that applies under subsection (1), the Lotteries Commission must pay the amount of the prize from the lottery prize fund account into such account opened under section 286 as the Secretary directs. The amount of the prize must then be dealt with as if it were part of the undistributed profits of New Zealand lotteries.

      2. For the purposes of this section, the date of closure of a New Zealand lottery that is an instant game is—

      3. the date on which the last ticket is sold, or any tickets remaining unsold are cancelled by the Lotteries Commission; or
        1. if provision is made by the Lotteries Commission for additional prizes in accordance with section 246, the date on which those additional prizes are determined.

          Compare
          • 1977 No 84 s 105