Furious pensioner denied lottery winnings due to little-known benefits rule

11 February 2024 , 07:00

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Hilde McMillen was left fuming (Image: ABC Action News)

A pensioner was left fuming after she was denied her lottery winnings due to a little-known rule about her benefits claim. Hilde McMillen, 82, was told she owed money to the state after being overpaid in unemployment benefits.

Hilde, from Florida, was ecstatic when she found out she had won the lottery, but her joy quickly turned into disappointment when she was told she wouldn't receive the winnings. "Oh my God, I was excited! At that time, yeah I needed the money," Hilde said.

However, Florida law prevents lottery winners from collecting their prize money if they owe any money to the state's unemployment office. Hilde was told she fell into this category and so was denied her $1,000 (£789) lottery prize.

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Winning the lottery can turn someone's life around (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

She told WFTS: "They told me they're not going to pay me. Because I had an overpayment on my unemployment. I say I can't believe that, I say, I paid that already."

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"[It] took almost three hours to get [the DEO] and the lady was very nice, but she couldn't help us with nothing. They held me hostage from my own money. My $1,000 was sitting at the unemployment office and nobody did nothing."

Hilde didn't give up and eventually received her lottery winnings after contacting the DEO. She said: "Two days later, the unemployment office called me and said, we're going to send you your money. And then two days later, they called me again and told me when I'm going to get it."

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A letter sent to Hilde from the DEO stated: "You were without fault in creating this overpayment and the department has determined that recovery would be contrary to equity and good conscience." In addition to her winnings, Hilde also got back a $200 payment she had made to the department. "So in other words, I didn't owe them nothing," she said. The DEO explained that overpayment procedures are there to prevent fraud, but they understand that "just because an overpayment is flagged in an account, it does not mean that an overpayment has occurred".

Sam Truelove