What actually happens after you win millions in the lottery

Who doesn’t dream of winning the lottery?

Casually seeing millions turn up in your bank account and swanning off on an around-the-world trip, or buying a supercar and cruising downtown to your luxurious mansion.

And now might be your chance – with an eyewatering £110 million up for grabs tonight in what’s being called the EuroMillions ‘super jackpot’.

Of course it would be easy to start listing what you would do if you won tonight – but contrary to expectation, you’re not just handed millions of pounds to fritter away on beach villas and champagne.

If you are lucky enough to scoop the big prize – which is a one in 139,838,160 chance – there is a whole process to help you make good decisions about your money and help you through the drastic transition to becoming a millionaire.

Lottery adviser Andy Carter has exclusively laid out each step for Metro.co.uk: from the moment you are told about your life-changing win, right up to using private jets as your mode of transport.

Day one

If you win the jackpot during tonight’s draw at 7.30pm, you should call the number on the back of your ticket.

If you played online, you can find the number in an email. Your details will be passed on to Andy who will then call you back.

You will start discussing logistics, such as verifying your identity and considering what bank account you want the money to be paid into.

But the most important part of the call will be about your wellbeing.

Andy said: ‘There’s two bits to that phone call. One is just me talking you through how things will work but actually I’m calling to check in on you because you’re usually having an enormous shock.’

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Two days later

Once you’ve had some time to think about how you want to handle your money, Andy will pay a visit to your home.

His team will check through all your paperwork by making sure your ticket is real and verifying you are the person who bought it.

It usually takes about an hour for Andy to receive confirmation that everything is above board. Once he has this, Andy can send the money to whatever bank account you choose.

You should be able to see the money in your account within two working days.

Andy said: ‘It’s quite strange actually because some people want to rush it through, others just need to take their time and get their heads around it first. We go at their pace.’

Follow-up programme

Sorting out the logistics of receiving your money is ‘just the start’.

Around two weeks after you have millions in your account, Andy will help set up meetings with legal and financial advisers.

But on top of this support, the National Lottery believes it is very important to help winners with their mental health.

‘People are actually going through an enormous change, they’ve had an enormous shock,’ Andy said.

This is why winners are also given a life coach, which they can share with their whole families if they choose.

‘Winning the lottery gives you lots and lots of opportunity to do lots of fantastic stuff but it takes a bit of getting used to,’ he added.

Winners have access to this financial, legal and wellbeing support for the rest of their lives.

Concierge service

Whilst winning has seemed fairly serious up until now, Andy makes sure not to take away any of the fun of it.

He will most likely suggest you use some of the money to go on holiday or do something else you have always wanted to do while you mull over how to spend the rest.

But most regular people do not know how to go about doing things that billionaires do. So Andy puts winners in touch with a concierge service.

‘If [you] want to go to a concert that’s sold out or [you] want to hire a private jet to take [your] family on holiday, there are experts on doing that,’ Andy said.

Access to previous lottery winners

Andy thinks ‘the best thing [winners] can do is have a cup of tea with another lottery winner’.

He said: ‘If something happens to you in your life, you normally know someone else who has been through it, but there have only been 6,000 lottery millionaires since the start of the national lottery.

‘Our job is to put [new winners] in touch with other winners and make sure they have access to that support.’

The effectiveness in the National Lottery’s support is shownin ‘how sensible our winners have been’, Andy added.

He said: ‘Once the financial crisis of 2008 came out, people had a different view towards money.

‘So we find that people start slowly as they grow into their wealth, because it takes them time to get used to it.’

How can £1 million change your life?

The age you become a millionaire will have the most drastic impact on how the money is spent.

But having £1 million in your account is sure to make you a property owner and set your loved ones up.

Andy said: ‘It depends how much you’ve won, how old you are, what your lifestyle is like at the moment, what lifestyle you aspire to. 

‘Someone who is 21 and wins £1 million will have a different view to someone whose 61 that’s won £1 million. 

‘What we do know that if you do win £1 million, you’ll live mortgage-free, you’ll have money in the bank, you’ll be able to help other people out, you’ll be able to start your children’s lives off in a different way.’

If you did win £1 million, a financial expert would help map out when you would run out of money – depending on your age and lifestyle.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

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