A taxi driver is still waiting for his lottery winnings to be delivered six weeks after his win. Amid the cost of living crisis, 69-year-old Ray Laird from Bootle in Merseyside continues to work as a cab driver, despite believing that his financial strain would ease when he won £800 on the National Lottery.
When Laird bought his lucky ticket from a local One Stop shop on March 2, he said he saw it as part of his weekly routine since 1994. To his joy, he had won a substantial £800, enough to cover his mortgage for a month, reports Liverpool ECHO.
Unfortunately, the elation soon gave way to frustration when the prize money remained unpaid almost six weeks later. He has made several attempts to contact lottery officials but claims to have spent hours on hold without resolution.
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Speaking to the Echo, Ray said: "I'm 69 so can't do the online stuff but I got my daughter to register the ticket for me. She did everything they asked and sent the tickets off. It was £800 I won. I phoned last week to enquire when I'm getting this money. Someone on the phone said to me 'Well if you played online you wouldn't have this trouble'. I thought this is disgusting. I have bought tickets from 1994, why should I change now?
"She said to me I would receive the cheque by Friday last week, if not latest Monday. I never received it Monday and called them again on Tuesday. I was on the phone for an hour and ten minutes and still never got through. I called again on Wednesday and was on the phone for two hours and 55 minutes. I've been on the phone to them again for another hour, this isn't right. I have been phoning for three days, is the backlog that bad? "
Ray claims his £800 win would have eased some pressure on him and his family amidst the troubles caused by the UK cost of living crisis. He said: "£800 would have paid my mortgage this month. I'm a taxi driver, I'm struggling as it is. I'm 69 and still working so I can pay my mortgage. Times are tough at the moment, they are tough for everyone and I'm being crucified by the tax man for working and getting my pension, but I have to work. You can't win. Everyone is struggling so as soon as you get extra cash it is a relief of stress on your bills, we all need that relief.
"It was just last week that I took a woman home from the hospital who was 93 and she asked me if £15 would be enough for the fare. I said 'it is today love' and I only charged her £10.. That woman had worked all her life in the hospital and now she is worrying about getting home, this is what we are living in today."
In response, a spokesperson said: "This is a new claims process following the Post Office's decision to no longer pay National Lottery retail prizes between £500.01 and £50,000. The time the process takes will vary depending on whether we need any further information from the player in order to process their claim and how long it takes for us to receive the ticket or scratchcard from the player.
"As people are still unfamiliar with the new process, we're also experiencing a high volume of players contacting us and have increased the number of colleagues to assist players with their claims which is helping them get their prizes more quickly. We're very sorry to hear of Mr Laird's concerns, and have been in touch with him to discuss these and provide him with an update. We'd like to reassure anyone affected that they will receive their prize."
