A grandad who won £80,000 in the National Lottery “wants to go back on benefits” after blowing his winnings in just weeks.
Daniel Millar from Motherwell, Scotland, failed to tell the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about scooping the windfall, and now no longer qualifies for income support, housing benefit and council tax reduction.
The pensioner, who bagged the winnings in September 2017 but spent them all by that November, is now desperate to get his benefits back.
“I didn’t know I had to tell the Department for Work and Pensions, so I spent it all by giving it to my two sons and my daughter, paid for two family holidays, did up my house and bought clothes for me and my wife,” Millar told The Sun.
Daniel Millar from Motherwell, Scotland, 'wants to go back on benefits' after blowing his £80,000 winnings in just weeks
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After spending all the money by November, he was told by the DWP in December that he had been reported by the tax office for not declaring the £80,000 in his bank.
At this point, Millar said he was £7 overdrawn in his account.
“Now they have stopped my benefit. The only income I have is my personal independence payment of £350 per month and a pension of £1.08 per week. I have to pay full rent and council tax so we have little left to live on. My wife, who is my carer, gets £62 a week,” he explained.
His wife has also despaired about their current situation, confirming that the DWP told them that they have “deprived ourselves of capital and don’t qualify for the benefits”.
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Daniel Millar gave the winnings to his kids, spent it on a holiday and did up his house
Last month, a National Lottery scratch card brought about “misery” for a couple, after a row broke out over who purchased it.
The winning £1million was bought at a shop in Spalding, Lincolnshire, by security engineer Michael Cartlidge, 39, and Charlotte Cox, 37.
However, Cox has been deemed the sole winner by new Lottery chiefs after she walked out on him just weeks later.
He says he had tried to transfer Cox cash in the shop to cover the purchase.
The pensioner bagged the winnings in September 2017 but spent them all by November
PA“£1million has never brought such misery,” a source told the national newspaper.
Mum-of-one Cox initially decided to share the cash but walked out on him weeks later before claiming to be the sole winner. An investigation had been launched by former Lottery chief Camelot.
However, it is understood new Lottery owners Allwyn have now ruled Cox is the rightful claimant.
Cartlidge said: "I am in shock. I can openly admit that we wouldn’t have got that ticket without Charlotte, but she wouldn’t have got it without me either. I know it was her bank account that paid for it, but it should go 50-50 morally."
A shop assistant who sold the quarrelling couple the winning scratch card said CCTV footage suggests the £1million winnings should be split 50/50.
"I’m on no one’s side. I like them both. But I honestly believe that the money should be both of theirs," she told the publication.