Postcode Lottery FAQs

The Postcode Lottery is a subscription lottery, so you just need to sign up to take part. This can be done online or by telephoning the number 0808 109 8765. You need to submit your postcode and you will automatically be entered into every draw. It works as an ongoing monthly subscription so you will carry on being entered into draws until you cancel your subscription.

It costs £12 for a month’s subscription, giving you one ticket for every daily draw. You can play with up to three subscriptions – at a cost of £36 a month – to give you three tickets for each draw.

If you play with more tickets and your postcode gets drawn as a winner, you receive a proportionally bigger prize. For example, if you win a Daily Prize and have played with one subscription, you receive £1,000, but if you played with two you receive £2,000.

There is a deadline every month for you to subscribe for the next month’s draws. This is usually around the 24th of the month. If you sign up after this date, you will not be entered into any draws until the following cut-off date has passed.

Winning postcodes are selected at random, using certified computer software and in the presence of an independent adjudicator.

There are draws every day. The results of every draw in a particular month are generated on the same day, usually on the first Wednesday, but are only announced on a daily basis.

There are various different types of draw – including daily draws, monthly Postcode Millions draws and draws which offer £30,000 Street Prizes.

In a daily draw, 20 winning postcodes will be announced. If you have played with one of those postcodes – matching it exactly – you win £1,000.

In a £30,000 draw, one postcode is selected as the winner. Everyone who has played with that exact postcode wins £30,000.

The prize pot in Postcode Millions is £3 million. Once a month, one postcode is announced as the winner. The prize is shared between all players who entered this postcode. The ticket holders who match the full postcode get the largest share and players who match a partial code also win a share. For example, if the winning postcode was AB1 2DE, anyone matching AB1 2 would receive a share of the prize fund.

Yes. One thousand postcodes are drawn on a Saturday and every ticket in those postcodes receives £10. Another 1,000 postcodes are announced on a Sunday, with every ticket winning £20.

The prize for the Unforgettable Year is £12,000 every month for 12 months. You can also enjoy an experience enabled by one of the Postcode Lottery’s charity partners, such as an overseas adventure or a city tour.

The odds of winning depend on how many postcodes are entered into each draw. More than 60 percent of the postcodes in Great Britain (of which there are approximately 1.5 million) are entered into every draw. Thousands of prizes are won every month, and it is estimated that more than 80 percent of players win prizes every year.

If you win a prize, you’ll be notified by the People’s Postcode Lottery. This may be by post, telephone, SMS or email, while winners of street prizes will be told in person by a representative of the lottery who will deliver a cheque by hand. If you win, the prize money will be transferred to you within 28 days. However, if you play by direct debit, you may need to contact the Postcode Lottery and confirm your bank account details. Go to the page on Claiming Prizes for more information.

The Postcode Lottery has raised more than £500 million for charity since it was launched in 2005. A minimum of 32 percent of the money raised from ticket sales is donated to good causes.

The Postcode Lottery supports various charities – a different one is supported in each draw. Some of the notable beneficiaries have been Oxfam, WWF, Unicef and the British Red Cross. See the Good Causes page for more information.