Cruel mail twist sees woman's winning lotto ticket 'lost'

A woman who won US$1,000 (AU$1,395) in a second-chance draw isn’t getting her prize because the certified letter she sent to the lottery’s headquarters never arrived.

Sue Burgess was told by lottery officials in Tallahassee, Florida “no ticket, no prize” after she won $1,395 in the July draw, WFLA reported.

The second-chance lottery prize gives winners a limited time to turn in a ticket to claim the prize.

Their options are to either put the ticket in a drop box at a local lottery office or mail them to the headquarters.

Ms Burgess told the television station she felt it would be safer to send the ticket via certified mail with the US Postal Service.

The tracking information shows the ticket arrived at a Tallahassee post office at 7.12am (local time) on August 12. But the online tracking shows the ticket was never delivered to the lottery office.

When Ms Burgess called, lottery officials told her that without a ticket, the prize would go to an alternate winner.

In a second-chance game, the lottery has a record of winners because players register their names and contact information.

Ms Burgess told the station she was notified she won by a lottery official who called to give her the good news.

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Typically, lottery winners of more than US$600 ($A837) can submit winning tickets in person at their local lottery office. But because of COVID-19, offices were closed to the public.

Ms Burgess says she was told she could send the ticket via certified mail or leave the ticket in a drop box at a local lottery office.

She said there was a one-week time frame to submit the ticket, but she missed an email about being a winner and by the time the office called her, she only had days to get the ticket post-marked.

“That’s why you chose certified mail,” Ms Burgess told the station.

“With COVID, I understand the mail is a little bit slow. But for safety sake, certified mail usually has priority.”

Lottery officials told WFLA the claim was never received at the headquarters.

The claims department told Ms Burgess to contact the postal service to find out what happened to the letter. The postal service said they were investigating what happened.

In a statement to the station, the postal service offered an apology to Ms Burgess for any “inconvenience”.

If the package arrives, lottery officials told the station they would bend the rules and pay Ms Burgess if it was postmarked by the original deadline.

“Ms Burgess’ situation is an unusual circumstance and, to our knowledge, no other winner has experienced a similar issue,” the lottery said.

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