Have you played a National Lottery scratchcard but you’re not sure if it’s a winner or not?
Or have you been into a shop, only for the staff to tell you your scratchcard isn’t a winner, or you got paid less than what you thought you should?
If only there was a ‘scratch card checker’ or ‘scratchcard scanner’ that could help you out…
However, I’ve got bad news for you scratchcard fans. There’s no official way to check National Lottery scratchcards online.
But don’t worry. Keep reading and we will tell you the common reasons why people ask for a second opinion on their scratchcard and what you need to do next.
Issue One – Has your scratchcard expired?
Believe it or not, this is the biggest reason why people look for an online scratch card checker!
Found an old winning scratchcard in the back of a drawer, or in an old coat?
The problem is, National Lottery scratchcards expire.
Once a scratchcard games ends, you then get an additional 180 days to claim your prize.
After this, any unclaimed winnings get added to the National Lottery Good Causes Fund which donates your money to charities and local causes.
The best way to check if your scratchcard is still valid is to search for it on this page or this page.
If it’s not there, it probably means that your scratchcard has expired.
However, just to be sure, we recommend taking it into any shop selling lottery games and ask them to scan and check it for you!
Issue Two – You Don’t Understand The Game!
Don’t be embarrassed – this happens all the time. After all, there are new National Lottery scratchcards coming out all the time.
As such, the game play changes all the time. There are sometimes very subtle changes from one card to the next – especially when there has been a re-release!
The biggest culprit for confusing scratchcard players are the £3 scratchcards.
There are three games in particular that confuse players; the bingo, cashword and ‘four-in-a-row’ scratchcard games.
Although they are not particularly difficult to play, if you scratch off any of the wrong symbols, or scratch the whole card, it makes it really difficult to tell if you have won.
If you have this issue, we recommend getting a pen and then crossing off the letters/ symbols on the scratchcards.
If you still can’t work it out, take the scratchcard to the shop. Hand it over, and ask them to check it for you, and hopefully pay out any winnings!
Issue Three – Your Winning Scratchcard Was Refused Payout
This is a lot less likely scenario, but it still happens.
Before scratchcards are sold in store, the shop needs to validate them using the National Lottery terminal. This makes them ‘valid’ and helps prevent any issues if scratchcards go ‘missing’ or get stolen before they go on sale.
Sometimes however, a shop will forget to validate a new pack of scratchcards. If they sell a scratchcard that is a winner, no prize can be paid out until a pack is validated.
This happens very rarely, and is usually a mistake on the behalf of the shop.
If you go to cash a scratchcard and they tell you it is not valid, the only thing you can do here, is contact the shop you purchased the original scratchcard from, and ask them to sort the issue.
They should be able to do it straight away and should be sorted out immediately, and your winnings paid out!
I still don’t know what to do!
If you’ve read out guide and you are not sure what to do next, here’s what we recommend.
- Search for the scratchcard on our site. We feature individual pages for all new scratchcard games with a ‘how to play’ guide on each.
- Take your scratchcard in to a store. Ask them to check it for you. If they say it’s not a winner and you want to be certain, just ask for the scratchcard (and the receipt) back
- Contact us! We can do our best to help you out. For us to reply, we need to see a photo(s) and tell us what the issue is. Don’t just assume we know!
