CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The Illinois Lottery announced Friday that it is extending the timeframe in which winners can claim prizes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Players with prizes that were set to expire between March 16-May 31 will now have until June 30 to claim those winning tickets.
“Players usually have 12 months to claim their prize. During this difficult time, we wanted to extend the prize expiration date to provide players an extra opportunity to claim a prize that has been forgotten or misplaced,” said Illinois Lottery Acting Director Harold Mays, in a statement.
The Illinois Lottery extension includes a $2 million Mega Millions prize that was due to expire last weekend. The ticket was brought from the Mobile gas station in Joliet, located at 1600 New Lenox Road for the April 5, 2019, Mega Millions draw. The winning numbers for the drawing were: 8, 22, 24, 28, 64 with a Mega Ball of 21.
“Considering many of us are spending a lot of time at home right now, if you bought a Mega Millions ticket in Joliet around this time last year - now is the time to check under your couch cushions, in your desk drawers or in your glovebox to see if you’ve got the winning lottery ticket tucked away somewhere,” Mays said.
Players can check to see if their draw-based game ticket is a winner on the
Lottery website results hub by selecting “View all results” for their game then finding the date of the applicable draw. Players can also contact the player contact center at 1-800-252-1775, to check their numbers by date.
The prize claim extension applies to all prize levels for all Illinois Lottery games. Currently, Lottery prize claim centers are closed to support Illinois Department of Public Health guidelines for social distancing. As a result, players who wish to claim an expired prize during this time should fill out a claim form and follow the instructions for mail-in claims found at
www.illinoislottery.com/winning/when-you-win.
