Judge to Rule Soon on £1m Lottery Dispute

A woman from Boston in South Lincolnshire, England has taken Camelot, who run the National Lottery to court. Joan Parker-Grennan says the lottery operators are “bound” to pay her £1 million rather than the £10 they are offering.

The dispute has ended up in the High Court and a judge is now deciding just how much she should receive.

Mr Justice Jay heard  in the last week of March that it was in August 2015 when the Boston resident played an Instant Win game online. The aim of the game was to get at least two matching numbers to be a winner.

Camelot, who currently run the National Lottery say that their computer system had predetermined that Mrs Parker-Grennan had won £10.

Technical issue

However, the judge heard evidence that on August 25 and 26, 2015, a “technical issue” had taken place. This problem could have resulted in "different graphical animations" being seen on the screens of those playing the online lottery game.

The message received informed her that £10 had been won. The judge heard that two other numbers were matched, winning her £1 million. Camelot insisted that the technical issue caused that.

A substantial dispute

Their legal team was led by barrister Philip Hinks. He argued that Camelot’s liability was simply to pay the "outcome of the ticket as predetermined" by the computer system.

He described the case as a “substantial” dispute over the facts. Namely, whether the player should receive the amount she believes was won and the figure that Camelot believes should be paid to her.

That didn’t go down well with James Couser who represented the unhappy lottery winner. He told the court that there was “no real prospect of the claim being successfully defended".

The barrister added in a written argument that the dispute “is actually quite a narrow one.” He said that on the “true construction of the contract”, his client was actually “entitled to judgment”.

The judge has described the case as an “interesting” one. He will make a ruling on the case in the near future.

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