How Does Postcode Lottery Work?
People's Postcode Lottery is a subscription lottery which raises money for charities. Not only do our players win cash prizes, but good causes also receive essential support. Players sign up with their postcode and pay £10 per month. They are automatically entered into every draw and prizes are announced every day of the month. As 32% of the ticket price goes to charities, our players know that they are helping amazing causes every single day.
Read Frequently Asked Questions about People's Postcode Lottery
Prizes
- There are winning postcodes announced every single day for different prizes — see what you could win.
- Every Saturday and Sunday, winning postcodes are announced where players each win £30,000.
- Every month, players in one postcode sector share an incredible £3 Million or more.
- Find out more about our prizes in our FAQ.
Tickets
- Your ticket is based on your postcode. Only playing postcodes are entered into the draws.
- If your postcode gets lucky, every player in your postcode wins.
- No contract! Play for as long as you like.
- Find out how to play in our FAQ.
Payment
- Each subscription costs £10 per month to play. You pay by Direct Debit or PayPal.
- No need to remember to buy your ticket every week - sign up once and pay monthly in advance to play in all draws.
- If you win, you don't need to claim your prize - the money is paid into your bank account within 28 days.
- Find out more about payments in our FAQ.
Good Causes
- 32% of the ticket price goes to charity.
- Players have raised over £600 Million for good causes so far.
- Find out how to apply for funding for a charity near you on the About Us page.
- Find out more about our charities in our FAQ.
Information About Prizes and Proceeds
How are winners selected
Our winning postcodes are selected via random draws using software which has been certified by a Gambling Commission-approved testing house. The software uses a random number generator to pick out winning postcodes from the postcodes players have bought a ticket to enter.
20 draws are conducted each month with an independent adjudicator present, usually on the first Wednesday of the month. The winning postcodes are then announced on a daily basis as shown in the Prize Draw Calendar. Only playing postcodes (or, for the Postcode Millions, valid tickets) are entered into our draws. So, there's always a guaranteed winner for every prize.
For all prizes except the monthly Postcode Millions, playing postcodes enter each draw once. These prizes aren't shared, and each winning ticket claims the full advertised prize. Playing with more than one ticket in the same winning postcode? You win the prize amount for each ticket you play with. So, if your postcode wins a £30,000 Street Prize, and you play with two tickets, you'd win £60,000. Playing with three tickets? You’d win £90,000!
For the Postcode Millions prize, the prize money is shared. The prize is split between players in the full winning postcode and the surrounding postcode sector (or occasionally, the larger postcode district). All tickets play, and a single winning ticket is selected to determine the full winning postcode. The maximum prize per ticket in the Postcode Millions is 10% of the draw proceeds, up to £500,000. For more information about how this works, check out section 2.6 in our Terms and Conditions.
What prizes are on offer
We announce winning postcodes every single day! Check out the Prizes you can win with your People’s Postcode Lottery ticket. This also includes details of the Postcode Millions prize which is a shared prize between players in a winning postcode and sector (or occasionally, the postcode district) every month.
The prizes advertised are drawn first. If, because of the number of players in the winning postcodes, this amounts to less than 40% of the money raised through ticket sales for that draw, we will usually keep drawing more postcodes to win more £10 prizes. On occasion after all advertised prizes have been drawn, any remaining money from the 40% of ticket sales is carried forward to be won in future draws by the same promoting society.
How proceeds are used
People's Postcode Lottery manage society lotteries for 20 different Postcode Trusts. Have a look at our Prize Draw Calendar which highlights the Postcode Trust promoting the draws. 32% of the cost of each ticket goes to the Postcode Trust promoting the draw, 40% is used for prizes and 28% is used for our lottery operating expenses. In 2020 our ticket sales were £487 Million.
Postcode Trusts, Wildlife Trusts and Youth Music may use proceeds from their lotteries to give grants to beneficiaries who meet their aims. Information about how the grants are allocated and previous recipients can be found on their websites, which can be accessed here.
Likelihood of winning
It isn’t possible to predict the likelihood of winning a prize in the future draws as this depends on the number of postcodes and tickets entered into the draws and this can vary. As a guide, these are details of winners from previous draws:
In the December draws 20.6% of playing postcodes won a prize.