Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How can I join People's Postcode Lottery?

You can sign up to join People's Postcode Lottery at our website postcodelottery.co.uk or by calling our Customer Experience team on our freephone telephone number 0808 109 8765. People's Postcode Lottery is an ongoing monthly subscription lottery where paid tickets are automatically entered into our prize draws. You can purchase up to three tickets to play in our draws. Each ticket is based on your chosen postcode and costs £10 per month to play. There are 10 draws every month giving you the chance to win prizes every single day. 32% of the ticket price goes to good causes. For more information on how People's Postcode Lottery works, check out our How It Works page.

What's the difference in playing with 1, 2 or 3 tickets?

Each ticket plays in all our draws every month and can win a prize every single day. You can sign up to play People's Postcode Lottery with one, two or three tickets (one, two or three subscriptions). In our Saturday and Sunday Street Prizes, every ticket in one lucky postcode wins £30,000. If you play with one ticket, and your postcode gets drawn, you win £30,000. However, if you played with two tickets, you'd collect £60,000. If you played with three tickets, you'd pick up £90,000!

The same applies with the £7,000 Dream Holiday, the £1,000 Daily Prize and our other Saturday and Sunday cash prizes. These fixed amount prizes are awarded per ticket. The more tickets you play with, the more you win.

Prize funds in the £3 Million Postcode Millions draw are shared on a per-ticket basis. The more tickets you play with, the greater your share of the total prize fund.

Each ticket costs £10 per month to play. For two tickets, your subscription would be £20 per month, and for three tickets, it would cost £30 per month.

Where can I buy People's Postcode Lottery tickets?

The simplest way to buy People's Postcode Lottery tickets is to sign up online at our website postcodelottery.co.uk. You can also buy tickets by telephoning People's Postcode Lottery on our freephone telephone number 0808 109 8765. Our Customer Experience team members will guide you through the sign up process and set up your monthly subscription. For details on our opening hours, see the Contact Us page. Each month, there are 10 draws. You cannot buy tickets for one individual draw – the minimum subscription is for one month and costs £10. Each month's payment enters your ticket into the 10 draws that month and means that you play for prizes every day during that month of play.

I signed up to play on the People's Postcode Lottery website but I haven't received a confirmation email yet. What should I do?

When you sign up to play through our website, we'll send you a confirmation email containing important information about your subscription(s). If you don't receive this email within an hour of signing up, the first thing to do is to check the SPAM folder in your email. Sometimes emails from new contacts or businesses get filtered due to being mistakenly marked as SPAM. If possible, log into your email through the website for your email provider (rather than through a program like Outlook, or a mobile app) and check the SPAM folder.

The next step to take is to add People's Postcode Lottery to your safe sender list. This just tells your email provider that you want to receive emails from us. For instructions on how to do this, take a look at our guide to spam filters.

If, after making these changes, you've still not received our email, please give our Customer Experience team a call on 0808 109 8765 and we can investigate further.

What is People's Postcode Lottery's phone number?

You can telephone People's Postcode Lottery on our freephone number 0808 109 8765. Our Customer Experience team members will help you with any queries. Our staff can help you sign up for new tickets, or can assist with any changes to existing subscriptions. For more ways to get in touch, and our opening hours, see the Contact Us page.

Why would People's Postcode Lottery call me?

If you've missed a telephone call from People's Postcode Lottery, there are a few reasons why we might have tried to reach you.

• If you're a player, we could be calling to advise you of a prize win or to resolve an issue with a payment or your subscription
• If you were previously a player, we might be calling you with some updates about People's Postcode Lottery
• If you've tried calling us with a query, or started to sign up on our website, then we might be contacting you to offer assistance

How can I raise a complaint with People's Postcode Lottery?

People's Postcode Lottery's complaints procedure aims to ensure that any given issue a player may have about the lottery is dealt with promptly and in confidence. The complaints procedure is without prejudice to players' legal rights. Further details of how to complain and our process can be found in Section 10 of our Terms and Conditions and in the webpage How does People's Postcode Lottery handle complaints? Copies of our full complaints procedure are available on request.

What are the extra prizes in December's draws?

Players will win £30,000 Street Prizes every single day in December's draws. December's draws pick all the winning postcodes from 8th December 2018 until 4th January 2019. Every single day from 8th December until 4th January, a lucky postcode will be announced as a Street Prize winner and neighbours will win £30,000 for each ticket they play with. If a winner plays with two tickets, they pick up £60,000. If they play with three tickets, they collect £90,000. That's a whopping 20 extra Street Prizes in one month of play! With a little luck, it could be a very Merry Christmas or a really Happy New Year!

What does my ticket play for?

Your ticket plays for prizes every day of the week. It plays in Saturday and Sunday Street Prize draws, for a £30,000 prize. Monday to Friday, your ticket could win £1,000 each day in the Daily Prize. Your ticket plays in monthly draws for a brand new BMW, £25,000 cash and a £7,000 Dream Holiday. Every month, we also have a £3 Million Postcode Millions draw and your ticket plays for a share of a £3 Million cash prize fund.​ To find out more, visit our How It Works page.

How can I tell if I'm a winner?

There are lots of ways to see if you're a winner.

• Check out the Winners section on the website.
• Call us on freephone number 0808 109 8765.
• We publish winning postcodes in the press.

Winners are notified by email, SMS message, mail or phonecall depending on the prize you won. For our big winners, of course, we'll see you in person! We recommend that players register an email address with us and keep their address and telephone details up to date, to ensure they can be notified of any prize wins. To update any of your contact details, please give our Customer Experience staff a call on 0808 109 8765.

When will I receive my prize money?

If you pay by Direct Debit or if you signed up by other payment methods but have already registered your bank account details with us, your prize money will be transferred to your bank account within 28 days. If you haven’t registered your bank details with us yet, please ring us on freephone number 0808 109 8765 and we can arrange to pay your winnings.

When do Postcode Millions happen?

We have Postcode Millions draws every month, giving our players the chance to win their share of massive £3 Million prize pots*.

* In accordance with the Gambling Act 2005, the maximum amount that can be won by a single ticket is 10% of draw proceeds up to a maximum of £400,000

Do I need to buy separate tickets for the Postcode Million draws?

No. If you sign up to play People's Postcode Lottery, each ticket you play with is automatically entered into all of our draws, including these Postcode Millions draws.

Is People's Postcode Lottery free to play?

It costs just £10 per month to play a ticket with People's Postcode Lottery. 32% of the ticket price goes to charities. See more about the cost of playing.

How can I pay for my tickets?

Most of our players make monthly payments for their tickets by Direct Debit. It's also possible to sign up for a subscription by PayPal or Debit Card.

Previously, it was possible to sign up to play with Credit Card. It's no longer possible to sign up for new tickets using this payment method. For existing tickets paid for by Credit Card, payments will continue as previously until the Credit Card expires. At this point in time, alternate payment arrangements must be made to continue playing. Please call our Customer Experience staff on freephone number 0808 109 8765 for further assistance or advice.

When does my ticket play for prizes?

You can win cash prizes every day of the week with your People's Postcode Lottery ticket. You pay monthly for your ticket and when you first sign up you will be informed of your first draw date. After this date, you'll play for prizes every day. Each month, we have ten draws which allocate prizes for every day of that month. Our £30,000 Street Prize winners are revealed every Saturday and Sunday. We usually announce the full winning postcode in our Postcode Millions draws on a Saturday too. Check out the Draw Calendar (PDF, 71KB) for more information. Players have lots more chances to win on other days with our £1,000 Daily Prizes and our monthly BMW and £25,000 draw and £7,000 Dream Holiday prizes. All of our draw results are published online in our Winners section.

How are winners selected?

Winners are randomly selected using People's Postcode Lottery's certified draw engine software. All draws are conducted in the presence of an independent adjudicator. Ordinarily all draws for a month are carried out on the first Wednesday of the month. Winning postcodes determined by these draws are then announced on a daily basis.

For all prizes except the Postcode Millions and monthly £25,000 and BMW prizes, all playing postcodes are entered into the draw once, no matter how many people play with that postcode. The prize is not split between winners - everyone who plays with the winning postcode will win the advertised prize. Players with more than one ticket will win the relevant multiple of the advertised prize.

For the monthly £25,000 and BMW prize, the postcode is selected as above and players in that postcode win £25,000 per ticket. One of those winning tickets is then drawn to win the BMW in addition to the £25,000.

For the Postcode Millions prize, £3 Million is shared between players in the winning postcode and surrounding postcode sector, and in some circumstances the wider postcode district. All valid tickets are entered and one ticket is selected in this draw which determines the winning postcode for this prize. A postcode with more tickets playing has a greater chance of winning this prize, but the amount won per ticket will be lower as it will be shared between more tickets. A postcode with less tickets has a slightly lower chance of winning, but if it does win, the prize per ticket would be greater (up to the statutory maximum ticket prize of 10% of the single draw proceeds up to £400,000). More information on how this works is available in condition 2.6 of the terms and conditions.

Only playing postcodes (or in the case of the Postcode Millions, valid tickets) are entered in any of the draws, which means there are guaranteed winners and no rollovers!

How much will my monthly payment be?

The monthly payment for one ticket (one subscription) is £10. If you choose to play two subscriptions, the cost is £20 per month. For three subscriptions, you'll pay £30 each month. There are no additional transaction fees.

When will my payments be taken?

In your first month, two payments may be taken close together. These are payments for each of your first two months of play. Tickets are paid monthly in advance simply to ensure that you play in draws from the earliest opportunity. After this first month, payments will only occur once every month. The exact timing of when these regular payments are taken depends on your choice of payment method.

Direct Debit customers have their payments taken either at an early collection date (on or around the 10th of each month) or at a late collection date (around the end of each month).

For specific information on your payment date schedule, call our Customer Experience staff on freephone number 0808 109 8765.

How do payments work with multiple tickets?

Our payment system changed a little while ago to make it easier to manage your tickets. Previously players with more than one ticket would see a single Direct Debit mandate for the cost of all tickets. Now though each ticket uses a separate Direct Debit mandate, which makes it easier to change the number of tickets you play. Please don’t be alarmed if you see more than one Direct Debit mandate on your account. For any questions, please call our Customer Experience staff on freephone number 0808 109 8765.

What happens when I win a prize?

For our big Street Prize winners, we'll see you in person - you'll get a knock at the door and an amazing cheque hand delivered!

£1,000 Daily Prize winners are informed by post and where possible by phone call to congratulate them personally. Please note we'll need you to answer two security questions in order to confirm your identity. We need to be sure we are speaking to the account holder before we reveal any important information like a win. We never ask for any sensitive bank information such as your bank account PIN.

Saturday's and Sunday's cash prize winners are notified the following week by post, email or SMS.

For players who have registered bank account details on file, prize money is usually transferred into your bank account within 28 days. However, if you do not pay by Direct Debit, we may need you to contact us to claim your prize money, depending on how much you have won.

Players paying by Direct Debit:
If you pay for your subscription by Direct Debit, your prize money will be transferred into your bank account within 28 days. Please note that, in some cases, for security reasons, we might need to call you to confirm bank account details.

Players paying by other payment methods:
If you pay for your subscription by other payment methods and you have already registered your bank account details with us, your prize money will be transferred within 28 days. If you haven't registered your bank details with us, and you've won more than £3,000 per subscription, you'll need to register a bank account to receive your prize money. You will be required to provide two forms of identification - a driver's licence or passport - and a recent bank statement clearly showing your name, account number and sort code. Please email scans of the documents to info@postcodelottery.co.uk or post photocopies to People's Postcode Lottery, 28 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, EH2 4ET. On receipt of these, your prize money will be transferred into your bank account within 28 days. Please provide your bank account information within six months of your win to enable us to make this prize payment.

If you have any questions, please call us on freephone number 0808 109 8765 or see Contact Us for other ways to get in touch.

How do I claim my prize?

With People's Postcode Lottery, your prize money is usually paid into your account within 28 days of your win. If you do not pay by Direct Debit, haven't previously registered bank details with us, and you win more than £3,000 per subscription, you will need to provide bank account information. In that case, please ring us on freephone number 0808 109 8765 and we can arrange to pay your winnings. Please confirm this bank account information to us within six months of your win.

What are the odds of winning People's Postcode Lottery?

In 2017, more than 80% of players won prizes with People's Postcode Lottery. These ranged from £10 wins, to £1,000 Daily Prizes, £30,000 Street Prizes and shares of the monthly £3 Million Postcode Millions prize. Thousands of postcodes win each week, and millions of pounds in prizes is won every month. There are also chances of winning a brand new BMW or a Dream Holiday every month.

For £10 a month, players are automatically entered into all People's Postcode Lottery draws. Winning postcodes are announced every single day of the month. Only playing postcodes are entered into the Postcode Lottery draws, so prizes are always guaranteed to be won. Over 60% of the postcodes in Great Britain are now playing, so odds are, your neighbours could well be playing already.

If you sign up and play, you'll a win a prize if your postcode gets lucky. Jeff Brazier, Danyl Johnson, Matt Johnson or Judie McCourt could be knocking on your door with a gold envelope and big cheque inside!

You never know when a big win is coming your way. Neighbours in Patchway were amazed when their postcode netted them £30,000 Street Prizes twice in just seven months!

How much money goes to charity?

32% of the ticket price goes to supporting charities. Our players have raised millions of pounds for good causes. By playing People's Postcode Lottery, you give yourself the chance to win great prizes, but you also help some amazing charities do vital work. Find out more about how your ticket supports charity. To help us help a range of good causes, sign up to play People's Postcode Lottery. Check out the latest news on how player funding is helping charity projects.

How is charity money distributed?

Money raised by our players is distributed to good causes by the grant-giving trusts

• People's Postcode Trust,
• Postcode African Trust,
• Postcode Animal Trust,
• Postcode Care Trust,
• Postcode Children Trust,
• Postcode Community Trust,
• Postcode Culture Trust,
• Postcode Dream Trust,
• Postcode Earth Trust,
• Postcode Equality Trust
• Postcode Global Trust,
• Postcode Green Trust,
• Postcode Heroes Trust,
• Postcode Innovation Trust
• Postcode Local Trust,
• Postcode Planet Trust,
• Postcode Sport Trust,
• Postcode Support Trust,

and through direct beneficiary funding to charity organisations.

Do you know a deserving cause near you? They can directly apply for funding from four of the charity trusts which distribute funds raised by our players. Check out the websites:

• People's Postcode Trust
• Postcode Community Trust
• Postcode Local Trust
• Postcode Dream Trust

to find out more details and see when and how to apply. The other charity trusts which share out player funding work with specific charity organisations, grouped by theme. For example, Postcode Children Trust works with specialist organisations to inspire and support children and young people to make the most of their lives and opportunities.

I’ve moved house. How can I change address/change postcode so I play in my new street?

If you’ve changed address and would like to update your playing postcode, give our Customer Experience team a call on freephone number 0808 109 8765. We just need you to tell us

• Your full name
• Your date of birth (as a security check)
• Your previous address
• Your full new postal address, together with your new playing postcode. Please note, we need you to tell us your complete new address: your new postcode alone is not sufficient.
• Your new phone number, if it has changed

We’ll make all the arrangements and let you know when you’ll start playing with your new postcode. You can also request a change of address by emailing us at info@postcodelottery.co.uk or by writing to us at

People's Postcode Lottery
28 Charlotte Square
Edinburgh
EH2 4ET
United Kingdom

Please ensure that your written request includes all of the information specified above. This allows us to make your change as quickly and easily as possible. If any of this key information isn't provided, we'll need to get back in touch with you to fill in the missing details.

How can I change my bank details?

If you need to change your bank details, please call us on freephone number 0808 109 8765. Unfortunately, it's not possible to request changes in bank account details by email or post. These updates must be discussed in a telephone call.

If you play with PayPal or Debit Card subscriptions and wish to add bank details, or change the bank details we have on record, you can call us on freephone number 0808 109 8765. In this case, to register (or amend) a prize payout bank account, you can also email or write in. Please note that you cannot email or write in to request a change to your Debit Card payment details. If you are updating your Debit Card (or a bank account which pays for your subscription) we need you to call us on freephone number 0808 109 8765.

How can I change my personal information?

• You can register updates to all your personal information by calling us on freephone number 0808 109 8765.
• You can also email requests of this type to info@postcodelottery.co.uk. If you are seeking any changes to your account, please note your full name, address and date of birth in your email.
• You can also submit a request for these changes by post. Please write to the address below, stating what your previous details were and what you'd like to change them to be.

People's Postcode Lottery
28 Charlotte Square
Edinburgh
EH2 4ET
United Kingdom

All requests will receive written confirmation of receipt and of any changes made. Please note, it's not possible for players paying by Direct Debit to request changes in bank details by email or post: these updates must be discussed in a telephone call.

How can I change the number of tickets I play or cancel?

Our Customer Experience team can make any changes to your subscription for you. If you wish to reduce your number of subscriptions, change your subscriptions or cancel completely, simply call us on freephone number 0808 109 8765. Discussing changes in a telephone call allows us to obtain all the necessary information from you and we can confirm back to you that the change is in place and when your last draw date will be.

How can I stop receiving particular emails from People's Postcode Lottery?

In a copy of the email which you no longer want to receive, click the Unsubscribe button in the footer of the mailing. You should then be taken to a webpage in which you can choose to unsubscribe from future mailings of that type. Alternatively, call our Customer Experience staff on freephone number 0808 109 8765 and they can change your contact preferences for you.

Why can't I log in to My Account?

We received some invaluable suggestions from players regarding the My Account functionality and have identified a series of improvements to make this service even better. Players are currently unable to sign in to My Account while these changes are made.

What are the warning signs for scams?

People's Postcode Lottery urges the public to be vigilant and look out for key warning signs in any communication telling them they have won any lottery:

• You cannot win a lottery unless you have entered. You must be a player of People's Postcode Lottery to win a prize with us.
• Legitimate lotteries don't ask you to pay taxes, custom fees, insurance shipping, handling fees etc before you can receive your 'winnings'.
• Scammers often ask their targets to send money upfront to them by money transfer.

If you are unsure about any communication you receive, please call our Customer Experience staff on freephone number 0808 109 8765 or email us on info@postcodelottery.co.uk and we will be happy to advise.

I'm worried I've received a letter/email/phonecall from a scammer. What should I do?

Periodically, fraudsters will run lottery scams. Sometimes, these scams can involve an individual posing as People's Postcode Lottery. The scammers contact members of the public by letter, email, phonecall or SMS message. The scammers will then claim that their target is a winner of a special lottery award. The fraudsters will often then ask for payment or your bank details before they will transfer any 'winnings'.

We are also aware of instances of nuisance callers and criminals deliberately changing the caller ID, a practice known as 'spoofing'. In these cases, your caller ID displays a telephone number connected to People's Postcode Lottery, but the phonecall is not from us. The scammers then ask for information about bank accounts or payments.

One number being 'spoofed' is 0800 123 456, which is an inbound telephone number for members of the public to contact our Customer Experience department. This is not an outbound number that People's Postcode Lottery uses to contact players.

People's Postcode Lottery warns the public that these communications are scams and should be ignored.

We encourage anyone who has encountered a scam to report it to Action Fraud, the UK's national fraud reporting centre. For more information visit www.actionfraud.police.uk.