Check your tickets: $5.5m winning Lotto ticket still unclaimed

Labour weekend could be about to get a whole lot better for one lucky Kiwi Lotto player with a $5.5 million Powerball winning ticket still going unclaimed.

Lotto NZ has now put out a call to anyone who bought a Powerball ticket from Paper Plus Morrinsville for last Saturday's draw to check their ticket before heading away for the weekend.

The $5.5m prize is made of $5m from Powerball First Division and $500,000 from Lotto First Division.

Marie Winfield from Lotto NZ said her team were anxious for New Zealand's newest multi-millionaire to check their ticket.

"We can't wait to meet you and celebrate your amazing win," she said.

"Powerball is certainly on a roll and there's already been 25 Powerball winners so far this year – it's an absolutely staggering amount."

Most Powerball winners claim their prize within a few days of winning – but occasionally leave it a little longer before checking and claiming their big win.

"The winner may know that they have the lucky winning ticket and could just be letting the news sink in, or they may be completely unaware that their little yellow ticket is worth millions," Winfield said.

In December last year a $17.m prize went unclaimed for more than three weeks.

The South Island winner was quietly coming to terms with the enormity of the win and decided to lay low for a while before contacting Lotto NZ to claim the prize.

In August 2019 a $12.2m Powerball prize went unclaimed for more than two weeks.

The ticket was purchased on MyLotto and Lotto NZ was able to contact the winner who was completely unaware they had won.

In 2017, a Gisborne couple took two weeks to claim a $6.5 Powerball prize.

They knew straight away that they'd won but wanted to take their time before claiming to think about how to manage their windfall.

In 2014, a Hamilton couple sat on their winning $16.2m ticket for 10 days before checking and finding out they were the missing millionaires.

In 2013, Lotto NZ tracked down a Christchurch player who was unaware they had won $22m.

The man thought the prize had already been claimed so was taken by surprise when Lotto NZ knocked on his door.

Anyone who bought a ticket from Paper Plus Morrinsville should write their name on the back of the ticket and check it immediately at any Lotto outlet, online at MyLotto.co.nz or through Lotto NZ App.